Don't you just love it when you find your running shoes stuffed full of celery sticks?

i counted 13 in there!

Great Deals

We all know how tight budgets can be this time of year so if you need a good deal or cheap (FREE!) entertainment for the kids read on!

Want free Christmas cards? This worked for me!

Also, Jess and I took the kids up to 'the dancing lights' (in their words) for family night last night. If you live in Utah county it's worth the trip. It's at the Tahition Noni owner's house up at the top of 2000 N. Address here.

Amazing Grace 2008 - Holdman Christmas Display from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

They are accepting donations for the Make a wish foundation but no charge is required to watch. You drive up, park, tune in your radio to their station, and enjoy from inside your warm car. Our kids have LOVED it every year they've done it.

Thanks Jayc

As I was changing Jayci's stinky diaper this morning she asked me, "Did you get all the poops out of my little tiny bum?" (What the heck am I doing still changing the diapers of this little grown up?!?)

"Yup," through snorting laughs, "your little tiny bum is squeaky clean. Do I have a little tiny bum too?"

It was my own fault for asking the dreaded question and receiving the inevitable answer, "No, you have a BIG bum." She couldn't seem to put enough emphasis in 'BIG'.

Proud Mama

I know this post might sound like a brag fest, but hey, it's my blog, I can brag about my kids if I want! :) Honestly, I fully intend to publish my blog soon to have in place of scrapbooks for our family history so I really want to have my kids accomplishments in it. Today especially, and most of this month, I've just felt so much pride towards my kids. Not the haughty, puffed-up kind of pride, but so proud to watch them accomplish new things. It's amazing to me how much my kids are absorbing in these early years.

On Monday Jack came home from preschool with a certificate that put him in the "NAME GAME CLUB". This is a big accomplishment for him because although he has known how to write his name for many months, he stopped writing it when he started school this year. I think when he first learned it was new and exciting and we made a big deal out of it. But now, having to write it on all of his schoolwork makes it less appealing. It was a happy surprise for me to pull the certificate out and to see that he'd written his name on the top.

Jack also has learned all his letters and letter sounds. So has Jayci, right along with him. I can say any letter and they both know what sound it makes. Often one will ask the other, "what does the 'A' (or any letter) say?" and the other one will answer. It's a game to them and I love watching it!

I also am proud of Jayci today. This is the first day since she hasn't had binkies that she fell asleep at nap time without crying. Almost to the day of her 2 week mark. I know it may sound silly, but I really truly was so proud. Not just happy and relieved, but proud of HER. This has been a challenge for all of us, but especially Jayci. And gradually she is overcoming!

I often pray in gratitude to be a mother. Even more often I pray in deepest, most sincere and overwhelming gratitude to be a mother to Jack and Jayci. I am so lucky!

So Far

I wanted to document Jayci's no-more-binkies progress thus far. We are on the ninth day. I won't lie, it's been hard. But at the same time it hasn't been harder than I geared myself up for so to me, thankfully, it hasn't been overwhelming. I'm actually really proud of her. I know it's been hard for her but she's done really well and is continuing to progress. I'm hoping that when we reach our 2 week mark things will start feeling "normal". As of today she's only had 2 naps and 2 full nights of sleep since we started, but on Monday night she fell asleep without crying and has almost every night since, so we're making good progress!

After my last binky post I decided to try some of the ideas in the comments. The first one I tried was Heather's. I asked Jayci if she was a big girl or a baby. Of course she said she's a big girl. I then tried to explain to her that big girl's don't need binkies, babies do, and that it's time to give the binkies to the babies. Of course a trade was involved; if she could send her binkies away so that babies could use them she could choose a big-girl prize from the store. Ya right. Every time we'd talk about it she'd whimper and cry, then end up mad at the babies, shouting, "NO! THE BABIES. CAN'T. HAVE. MY. BINKIES!" Since we do want more babies, and I would like Jayci to like them, I decided that may not be the best way to go. She'd probably end up holding a grudge toward all babies.

Then I tried the whole 'binky fairy' thing. If she could put her binkies in a box and leave them on the porch, the binky fairy would come and trade the binkies with a big girl prize. That didn't work any better. She just ended up frustrated, sad, scared, possessive, and angry. I even took her to the toy aisle at Target and let her choose any toy she wanted for the fairy to bring. She looked and looked but wouldn't pick anything up. Nothing there was worth the trade I guess!

While we were at Target I saw my bishop's wife and told her what we were doing. She said her daughter also had her binky until she was two and a half and finally she just snipped them. This is what I did with Jack, but he was almost a year younger and just accepted it. He looked at it and said "oh-oh, it's broken" and got over it very quickly. I was afraid to do the same thing with Jayci because not only is she older than he was, her personality is so different than his. He's this laid back, easy going, sweet and gentle spirited boy while she's not so much. However, I knew there was no convincing her to give them up on her own, so yes, that is exactly what I came home and did. That very day. I made sure to do it when she was downstairs, and I put them back exactly where they were, really hoping she'd just accept that they were broken. Ha. Ha. The very first thing that came out of her mouth when she found them was "Why did you cut my binkies?!"

I searched the whole house and cleaned out the toys and still could only find two. Sure enough, three have turned up since. Two by me and one by Jayci. Somehow she just had one in her mouth in the middle of the night. I know she didn't go to bed with any so she must have found one in between her mattress and crib.

She cried her whole nap that first day and, poor Jesse, I had a meeting that first night so he was left to put her to bed. She cried for an hour before falling asleep but at least slept all night, something she's only done once since. I did promise her a big girl prize in return. As soon as she could fall asleep at night without crying we'd go to the store and she could choose something. As I said above, she did that after only 5 nights so on Tuesday during Jack's preschool, she and I went on a date to choose her prize.

Jayci with her big girl prizes: a kitty blanket and a my little pony she chose so she could "comb her pretty pink hair". She's kind of extreme on both ends of girlie and tom-boy. All she really wanted was a car (lightening Mcqueen) or Thomas the train, but I said no because we already have tons of both, so then she chose the girliest stuff there. Oh ya, she REALLY wanted this white "fur-real" cat, but it was $50!

Nap time and night time are the hardest. She has cried nearly her full nap time everyday and only twice has she fallen asleep (after an hour of crying). For me, that's the most difficult time since I am in the house and have to listen. Believe me, it takes about all of my will-power not to get her out and snuggle her. It's heart-wrenching to lay her down and hear the saddest whimpers as I leave, and then full out crying for 2 more hours. I know if I don't though, she'll probably stop napping.

On Wednesday (day 7) she cried her whole nap time and then fell asleep on my lap after I got her up. She slept for almost 2 hours in the lazy boy! Crying wears me out too.


And here's some more random pictures from this week.

Jayci wearing 4 tutus.


Jayci bending over in 4 tutus.

Can you even imagine....

Wow, this is unbelievable!

Families

Kayli and I went up to Timpanogos Park on Monday evening to take pictures of each other's families. For both of us being amateurs I think we got some cute ones! These are some of my favorites.

Cute Caleb

and Austin

Trouble

Seriously, how cute is she!?!

Someday Jack's going to wonder why I don't have any pictures of him but have tons of Jayci. He was running away from me the WHOLE time, while Jayci, even though she was running around too, would stop and give me a cute pose.

Overdue Changes

This is my favorite view in my house. For the past 3 years (almost) we've had 2 complete nurseries right next door to each other. When I was pregnant with Jayci I knew Jack wasn't going to be ready to transition out of his crib before she was born so I acquired the crib that I slept in when I was a baby and it became Jayci's, leaving Jack's for him. Well, I'm sort of embarrassed to admit that this picture was taken just a week ago. Jack is four and was still sleeping in his crib. In my defense, he was perfectly content in it. He knew it was his bed, could climb in and out safely as he pleased, and still fit (barely).

For his third birthday Jack received a mattress and bed frame from Grandma and Grandpa Elies, and then a few weeks later a neighbor called and said they had a twin bed sitting outside their garage that was up-for-grabs. We jumped on that and had it in our garage a few hours later. I was excited because it was in great shape and very solid, sturdy, and best of all, FREE! It was in need of new finish work though, so then began the long, tedious re-finishing process. That was almost a year ago (I think). It sat in our garage all sanded and ready to be painted for months and finally I decided that for Jack's fourth birthday I would finish it. Choosing paint is always brutal, which is part of the reason it sat so long unfinished. I had just read "The Last Lecture" which inspired me to just let Jack choose what color he wanted his bed to be. I knew the answer before I even asked (this boy is OBSESSED with blue!!!) which is why I was hesitant. A blue bed? I wasn't sure we could pull it off.
Well....................................................................................................
Here is Jack sleeping his first night in his new blue bed! I think it turned out beautifully. I love it! Jack loves it even more! (even though he got it two months later than his birthday:) I have to admit, it does make me a little bit sad that I don't have my view of my cute nurseries anymore, but Jack's excitement makes up for it.

*I have to give a HUGE thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law Kristy! She volunteered to come over with her handy paint sprayer so "we" could paint the bed. She pretty much ended up doing the painting herself. Thanks for coming in the blazing hot July sun and applying four perfect coats! Too bad it took me two more months to finish it.


The next overdue change is one we have not yet implemented but need to. While it won't be as physically challenging as re-finishing a bed (actually, it might be!) it will be equally difficult for me to carry out. It's another sign that my kids just keep growing up, much to my dismay. I think saying good bye to the binky is long overdue! But by looking at the pictures you can see just how attached Jayci is to them. "Attached" doesn't quite do justice for how much Jayci loves these!. She literally dreams about them. Often I ask my kids what they dreampt about in the mornings and often Jayci's simple answer is "binkies". Seriously.

You can be sure there are several stashed away in her purses.

Doesn't really care if they are cardboard.

Always has to have at least one in her mouth, one in each hand, plus several sprinkled around her head.

I'm always finding them in random places.



Her partner in crime.


Sometimes she had no choice!


Don't take it away.......

.....she get's mad!


She's loved it since day 1.


Can you see how heart-wrenching this is going to be for us? As soon as she hits the pillow she's reaching around her to fill her hands. I've watched her do this unconsciously in her sleep. It's what comforts and soothes her. I feel so mean just thinking about what needs to be done! It's going to be SO HARD but I know it needs to happen. We have ruled it down to only allowing binkies in bed but she's a sneaky little thing and somehow always seems to have some hidden somewhere because she always randomly appears with one. It drives me crazy to hear her talk with them in her mouth and she wakes up with the nastiest breath because of them. I saw a boy at Target who was bigger than Jack and he had a binky in his mouth! Sick! That's where we are headed!

Any brilliant ideas on how to make this transition?

Request

I'm seriously thinking of going private. I really don't want to but have been feeling more and more like I need to protect my family from the psychos out there. I recently heard of a woman checking her blog feed and there were several unknown visitors that became more and more frequent. She began to investigate and found child pornographic websites linked to one and yes, she actually found more than one pic of her children posted. Pictures like a baby's chubby naked bottom, or bathtub pics. That freaked me out. Seriously, it's hard to even believe there are people who's minds extend to that sort of sickness.

So that leads me to my request. If you have my last name posted on your blog list, or anywhere else, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remove it. I googled my first and last name and my blog came up several times even though I have it disabled to search engines. This is because several of you have my first and last name on your list and that's how it's coming up. I know I probably sound paranoid. I am!

Thank You!!!

Gratitude=sister on timeout, daddy going potty,....and beans

Yesterday Jack said the lunch prayer and Jayci said the dinner prayer. They are to the point where they pray unassisted and actually say their own words. While it can be the sweetest thing in the world, sometimes it's just hilarious. Jess and I were literally shaking trying not to laugh out loud. (The potty part was so out of the blue, we have no idea where that came from, but it was so funny!)

Jack's Prayer:
"Our dear Heavenly Father, we're grateful for this day, and that Jayci's on time out so we can eat. Bless the food to nourish and strength-uh-bodies. We're grateful for Mommy, Daddy, Jack, and Jayci, and that daddy go potty. We're grateful for.........................(mumbles).....................and our drinks. We say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. "

Jayci's Prayer:
"Our dear Heavenly Father," then whispers, "oh wait, I need a bean." She eats a bean off her plate and the rest of the prayer is indiscernible because she's chomping the bean that she couldn't wait 30 seconds to eat.

Dear Dune Buggy Hat...

Jack misses you! Please come back!

*If anyone has any info on this missing hat or if we left it at your house and it's just floating around there please let us know. Your reward will be a four year old's euphoria!

Delight

I finally went grocery shopping. Our fridge was empty. Milk, gone. Bread, gone. Eggs, gone. Meat, gone. Cheese, gone. Cereal, gone.

Costco's produce was simply unforgettable. I had to bring most of it home and was still sad to leave the melons there!

(this picture was taken with my nice camera, then the battery died and the pics below were taken with my old one. I'm just noticing how much better all the colors look in it. I think I'll be keeping my battery charged from now on.)

Then even more from Maceys.

Didn't think about where I'd fit everything.

PS- Maceys is having awesome sales on their meat. (and food storage items such as rice, wheat, flour, sugar, honey. I didn't take pics of that, but I got some killer deals!)
(Yes, I know, we are carnivores!)

Swimming Lessons

These are pictures from the kids' first day of swim lessons. I've wanted to do them ever since Jack was a baby but just never got around to signing up and finally this summer I called my friend from high school who teaches and asked if she'd come do private lessons. Sarah wanted her kids in private lessons too so we are doing them in their pool.

Jack's favorite part is diving for the blue rocket.

Gwendolyn (aka former Miss Orem. She's gorgeous!) is 7 months prego and you can't even tell!

Here Jayci is learning to flip from back to front. Gwen sings a cute pancake song and when the pancake gets flipped she flips them over. Jayci loves it!

I am completely amazed at what my kids have learned in just 3 lessons! They are already ten times braver and do things that I've never been able to get them to do. Why is it that kids listen to other people so much more effectively than their own parents? It's been so fun and cute to watch them and see them learn.