I am lookin' for a date

Peter is going to be gone all day Friday and I know I am going to need a break from the kids around 6ish. Would anyone like to go see a movie with me?

What a nice surprise

Thank you Aunt Abby for the packages, you made our day! We love you and can't wait to see you in July.

Oh, and one more thing...

Don't you just hate it when little babies fall sound asleep in your arms while eating or rocking and you gingerly lay them down in their cribs and tip toe out of their rooms and quietly close the door and breath a sigh of relief and think to yourself now I can get something done and then not even 5 minutes have passed and that little baby is wide awake and crying at the top of their lungs.

A weekend wrap up

We had ourselves a nice little Father's Day weekend. It started Friday night when we went over to my brothers for dinner and some fun on the Wii Fit. I have never been big on video games but it looks like my mind has been changed by the Wii. I will be asking Santa for one for Christmas...lots of fun! Saturday started with a great workout followed by lots of yard work and a hand full of errands. Saturday evening we had a ward BBQ that was lots of fun. Unfortunately we had to leave early to get home so we could write some talks. Earlier in the week we were asked to speak in Sacrament meeting but were so busy that we didn't get a chance to sit down and formulate our thoughts until Saturday night around 9:30pm. I think I finally got to sleep around 1:00am and Lilly was up at 3:30 and didn't go back to sleep for about an hour and a half then we were up for the day at 7:00am. Needless to say I was exhausted and looked forward to a nap all morning but Lilly managed to rob me of that as well. It's hard to get mad at her though cause she is so cute. (see pics below for proof of cuteness) We had a nice dinner for Peter on Sunday night and then went for a walk. Peter had told the girls earlier in the day that he would camp out in the backyard with them so they got the tent all set up, had some stories and singing and went to bed. Now it's Monday again and Peters at work and I am left to clean up the mess. I am on my 4th load of laundry, the dishwasher has been unloaded and reloaded, other dishes have been washed and the kitchen floor has been swept. The girls have all been dressed and fed, twice plus snacks, and I have changed a hand full of diapers. I successfully got Ayva down for a nap, Lilly won't let me put her down without fussing and Bella, well Bella just can't seem to do anything by herself for longer than 10 minutes.

Here are just a couple of pictures from our weekend. The first one is of Lilly before our evening walk and the second is of her after the walk. She loves to nap in the Bjorn. The third picture is of the girls as they got all set up to camp out in the backyard. They had such a good time playing in the tent and are really looking forward to going camping in the mountains. Hopefully we can do that sometime this summer.

Happy Fathers Day Peter, we love you!

The Potty Whisperer

Ever since teeny tiny Lillian and her teeny tiny poops came home from the hospital I have been having a hard time changing big girl Ayva's big stinky diapers. So last week I decided that once her diapers ran out I was just going to start potty training. So we got started Sunday night We got Ayva all pumped up to "become a big girl". She had success peeing in the potty before bed and was thrilled to put a sticker on her potty chart and enjoy her jelly bean reward. Monday morning started off great. She woke up dry and again had success peeing in the potty. She put another sticker on the chart and quickly ate another jelly bean. While she was having breakfast I was nursing Lilly and watching The Today Show. They just happened to have a segment on potty training. It was about a woman in Illinois who calls herself the Potty Whisperer. She runs a potty training camp and claims that she can potty train most children in one day. (special needs kids being the exception) I listened with eager ears to learn more about her technique. She says that the most important thing when potty training a child is to never ask them if they need to go potty. She says to explain to them that if they need to go then they should walk over to the potty, pull down their pants and go potty in the toilet. That way they will learn that they are the ones in control over their bodies not you. Then she spends the next five hours letting them eat salty treats and drink sugary drinks. The salt makes them want to drink more and the sugary drink never quenches their thrist so they keep drinking. If they have an accident she makes them clean it up. She has the parents present to act as cheerleaders when a child has success on the potty. She says that once a child has that success and realizes they have control over their body it will increase their confidence and they will continue the behavior. Sounds good, I'll try it. So I brought Ayva's potty down to the living room and put it on the hardwood floor. I then changed her out of her pull-up and into underwear and then briefly explained to her that if she needed to go potty then she needed to walk over to her toilet, pull down her underwear and go in the potty. I then proceeded to fill her full of lemonade and goldfish. A few minutes passed and I started to think that after having so much lemonade she should be starting to feel the urge to go but following the "potty whisperers" advice I didn't want to ask her. So I sat near her anxiously awaiting the miracle of her just walking up to the potty and taking control of her own body. Well it never happened. She peed on the carpet twice that afternoon. Once was in the living room just 4 feet from her potty. Ugh. I had her clean up the messes but I don't think that bothered her at all. Now I can't get her to sit on the stupid toilet at all. So after one day of trying I am completely frustrated and ready to quit. Maybe I'll try again in a few months or maybe I will take Ayva to Chicago for a weekend and have the potty whisperer do it.

Congratulations to our graduate.

This last week Bella graduated from preschool and as you can see from the look on her face, she wasn't so excited. She has loved going to preschool and has made many wonderful friends that she is terribly sad about never seeing again. (None of her classmates will be going to her kindergarten)
Part of the graduation program involved the kids coming to the front of the stage and saying into the microphone what it is that they want to be when they grow up. Bella said that when she grows up she wants to be a cook. I would like to say that it is because I have provided her with an outstanding example of someone who is an excellent cook, however it is Sponge Bob Squarepants who she wishes to emulate and not her mother. (Apparently he is some sort of cook on the cartoon.) One of the other children said that when she grows up she wants to make salmon and sushi...it was pretty cute.
Here is a shot of Bella near the end of the program. There were four classes graduating together so they had to go through all of the children stating their dreams for the future. Needless to say Bella got a little bored and anxious to get out of there and go have some ice cream. We are very proud of her and are excited to watch her continue to learn as she heads off to kindergarten this year. She is such a bright young lady and I am confident she will continue to do well in school.

A Memorial Day to Remember

For Memorial Day this year we decided to get out of town and head down to St. George to enjoy some much needed sunshine. When I was in college at Dixie I was fortunate enough to live at a condo resort named Los Palmos. One of my best girl friends from high school had a relative who owned one of the condos and let us rent it from him for two years. It was an amazing resort. A couple of weeks ago I decided to look it up on-line and discovered it was still up and running and I convinced Peter we should rent a condo for a few days. When I lived there back in the day it had four pools, one indoor and three outdoor, and it has since added a fifth pool. Since Peter had to work the weekend we didn't leave until Monday morning but were able to stay through until Wednesday. I think it worked out wonderfully because we missed out on the big weekend crowds and three days was just long enough to enjoy ourselves and not get on each others nerves too much. So here are some pictures from our swimming adventures.

I love the next picture because it looks like Bella is walking on the water. (This pool is only 2 feet deep and is perfectly heated. The girls really had the best time jumping in over and over. )


And here is a picture of the view I had from my lounge chair.


Besides swimming, we did a little shopping at the outlets, took a nice drive through Snow Canyon, played in the sand dunes, ate at my favorite Pizza Factory and took a nice little stroll through the updated downtown area. St. George has really changed so much since I lived there ten plus years ago and it was fun for me to return and see it all again. Hopefully we can make it a family tradition to visit at least once every year.