MEMORIAL DAY

Happy Memorial Day! You know me and holidays...I usually look something up to learn a lil more about it but have found myself thinking about childhood memories. I was at the grocery store on Saturday and saw "the people" pouring over a miriad of potted flowers, and I also noticed my purple irises have bloomed. Both significant because when I was little I remember Mom cutting all our beautiful Irises and a few times I believe there were some potted Chrysathemums that were all delivered to the Kaysville Cemetary looking for grave sites of our beloved family who had passed on over the many years. Then it was off to Grandma's for a great lil BBQ, some horse backriding, and time with the cousins.

This year I'd like to honor & thank my Grandfather's; Robert Jay Harris, Merrill Farley as well as John's father Don and his 2 brothers-Fred & Jack and the miriad of others who have and are now serving on behalf of our country. What great men and women they are to sacrifice their time and their lives for our freedoms.

Odessa & Jay Harris, Sylpha & Merrill Farley

Fred, Don & Jack Payne
Our quote comes from General John A Logan in 1868, " Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all."

Something we all do as family and friends in one way or another. We spent the day together as a family cleaning the clinic, buying helmets and then going on a family bike ride.

John pulled the girls and I followed on my rollarblades. The Girls LOVED it, although Tyler was a lil tired and crashed on the way back and McKenna soon followed. I on the otherhand had Not been blading in soo long and in the beginning felt the pain, a good burning pain that says, "I'm getting in Shape!" Then we went to the park with everyone else and had a lil lunch and played on the swings.

It was great quality time spent with Dad without any distractions

we LOVED it!

Animal Crackers

My girls love the goats, everyday we go up the Steep driveway to pay omage to the baby goats. John got brave and actually picked one up and out, but that would be the day I forgot my camera and so this is all I got. I wish I could explain or show you how excited Tyler gets. She just stands at the fence yelling, "baby." It's so stinking cute!

Today I went with my friend Lori and her boys to the Zoo...and what a Zoo it was. We pulled in and found a gaziliion buses there, apparently it was Field Trip Day. I have an aversion to large crowds, as I think a lot of people do. With 2 small children the aversion has grown considerably, but I knew McKenna wouldn't quite understand if we left. Therefore we got the wagon out and moved forward...I've had a lot of zoo experiences and well the company was pry the best part for me, that and I think this is the first trip that Tyler has really appreciated the zoo. She was so excited to see the animals. At the Walrus and Beluga Whale pool she walked back and forth saying "wow" as loud as she could. A kid who was watching her looked at me and asked me "why is your daughter doing that?" I could only smile because I loved her excitement. Sadly I was so distracted by the crowds of people and keeping track of Tyler & McKenna who BOTH wanted to walk and not necessarily in the same direction that I only took like 5 pictures and only a few worth posting. McKenna was telling Tyler about this animal which I think was something like an Anoa?

I got distracted as I took the picture and realized it wasn't centered at all..another mom moment for me.

What happened?

I was reading my friend Susan's blog today and she had posted an old Journal entry from I believe 1994. It was so fun to read what she was doing at that time and while I was doing the lunch dishes and trying to bring some order to my house I started thinking and have come to this conclusion: I don't remember anything, at least not too much before the age of 21 and then it's even a lil shady after that. There are so many wonderful friends I have had and lost touch with, even during High School and I wonder what happened. I understand now in my ripe old age the importance of journal writing and that you can't possibly remember everything. Although I do remember having the thought at several times in my life when I was at "something" and thinking I'll never forget this day/night/experience, now I don't even remember what it was other than the actual thought.

I do have a few journals here and there but I don't think I recorded too much in high school. I'm afraid that if I did it was more than likely about some guy who I had a crush on and felt shunned by. Hopefully I haven't been that shallow my entire life. I guess I'll just have to start going through those boxes and see if I can find anything to start piecing my past back together and maybe learn from it in the process.

On a lighter (?) note, why is potty training so...draining? It doesn't seem like a hard concept to me, if your holding your crotch and doing the peepee dance don't you think going to the potty would be reasonable? But with McKenna she's doin the dance and I ask her, "Do you need to go potty?" to which she resoundly answers, "NO!" My favorite is when she then stands up, folds her arms and turns her shoulders and yells "No" at me. The funny thing is if I just pick her up and RUN to the bathroom with her then she'll sit on the potty no problem and there is a happy ending. What really gets me is when she sits on the potty and pees and then 3 minutes later she's sitting on the floor reading a book and I find/smell that she's pooped in her pants. What the...? I figure if you don't want to use the potty, that's fine, put on a pull-up or a diaper until you're ready or use the potty if you like underwear. It's an either or situation to me, but the girl doesn't like pull-ups or using the bathroom. Maybe I need more compassion, more understanding...and this is how I'm going to get it by continuing to play this game. But Once again she shows me I'm definitely not in control, something I learn over and over again since the day she was born!

Sunny Summer Days...

I have to start out with what a great example I am to my girls, as you can see in the picture below. We were chatting with John's Mom on Thursday and Tyler decided she wanted the phone, which is not all that unusual. What cracked us up is that she put it up to her ear and then decided to walk down the lane while she was chatting to her. I'm not really going to take credit for that, she has a bunch of play phones and when she picks them up she always puts it up to her ear and say's "hi".

The sun came out on Friday and decided to stay for a few days and well everyone felt it, in all it's glory. We went from 50 degrees to 85 and it was a little startling but nice just to know that the Sun still knew how to shine here in WA.

Saturday morning John and I both got up and got a good 5 mile run in, and then he headed off to the Shooting...range(?) with the YM. I hear it was a great success. One of the leaders had to leave a lil early and no one wanted to go. That's a good sign right? John got home in time for lunch and then we headed off to the hardware/garden show to pick up some flowers and get a start on our Vegtable garden. I am determined that even if it is done in buckets.

Planting lil seeds of Love

I came home Saturday afternoon from cleaning the clinic to find John out back with the girls in their swimsuits and the swimming pool up. Too bad we didn't think about doing that earlier so that the water would have been a lil warmer than sub-zero. Didn't seem to deter the girls too much.

FYI-she didn't fall in-great balance

Sunday was a fabulous day! Well it started out a lil rocky with me and the kids, getting ready for church and Sacrament Meeting sometimes is... (refer to Pres. Ballard's talk in the May Ensign 2008). John's truck died a few times that morning but one of our great neighbors, Art the Fart (to which he referred to himself when we met him) works on cars and had a few batteries laying around and actually gave it to him. Art is actually one of the sweetest guys, and has been an answer to our prayers more than once. While John was down visiting Art McKenna helped me make rolls for dinner, she's becoming quite domesticated in her young age.
We started having Family Home Evening on Sundays do to John's work schedule and this week our lesson was on the importance of having and keeping a Garden of course. When I walked out of the house to document our attempt at FHE Tyler actually looked at me and said, "C-h-e-e-s-e," Could the camera be out a lil too much?

Bored of FHE...already?

Driving at 3, with a passenger

A year and a half ago we put a new front door in. John and I were talking about everything we had to do to the house and the foundation just to get to that point. In our attempt to do some cosmetics to the house we decided to add a porch. Well after consulting with a friend of ours in the ward who does Architecture and is a carpenter we realized a big porch wasn't really an option. He suggested we add what is call an "eyebrow" and we really like the results. Take a gander and see what we've been doing.

The finished product

Birthdays, goats and fevers

Ok, so I wrote this yesterday and thought I posted it, but apparently it just went to drafts so for May 15, 2008:

Today is my sweet Mother-in-Law Sonia Payne's Birthday! We hope she had a wonderful day as we love and miss her being so far away. She truly is a wonderful person, thoughtful, patient, observant. She raised 8 great kids. I think just saying 8 kids there is an awe falls upon the readers...and I couldn't ask for a better husband & father so I am indebted to her for that alone. I truly do love my Mother-in-Law and hope that one day we can move her and Dad closer to us and the kids. Audrey and I are working on a plan... :) Someday!

Thank you to everyone who shared their lunch ideas with me. I was inspired, uplifted and actually felt a little more normal in my daily mac'n cheese delivery. I am going to try and venture to different ground and see how it goes. No worries there will be updates...

The weather has begun to warm up and I fear that we have skipped Spring and maybe even moved right into Summer. Today was nice hitting around 70 somewhere, but tomorrow we are supposed to get between 85-90. Wow...this is where I realize I've adjust to the NW weather and have become somewhat of a pansy in the heat. It is nice to be able to put the girls in the wagon and to take a nice walk to see all the neighboring animals. Our neighbors received a nice surprise this afternoon. About 5 months ago they bought a couple of goats off Craig's List to help control the Blackberry bushes that are overtaking their property. Mike, our neighbor went to get the girls (the goats) to take them to another section which he does every afternoon and couldn't find Holly, the goat with horns. After looking around their fenced area he was surprised to see her just finishing giving birth to 2 adorable, well not at the time, but now adorable looking lil baby goats. I'll be posting pictures tomorrow when we head up to visit them, in our excitement to see them I forgot the camera. Plus there was too much going on that you don't necessarily want pictures of. :)

Tyler went to bed last night with a small fever-but once again she has mollars coming, but woke up with a much warmer one at 2 am. The trend is all too familiar and I believe she might have another UTI. I've done some research and think I'm going to request an Urologist consult, but I think we are going to have to get through the weekend first. I feel so bad for Tyler as I understand they are very painful. I think this is her 4th one since October so it's time to start finding out the root of the problem.

Food for Thought

I'm asking all you fabulous mothers out there, what do you feed your kids for lunch? I'm at a loss. I do have a picky eater who will only eat Mac'n Cheese, cereal, yogurt and bread, but I think it's become my excuse for laziness. My less picky eater will eat just about anything and I realized today I'm in a rut and don't even know what else to fix her since I've been doing the same thing for sooo long. So please let me know your thoughts and ideas for lunch and dinner ideas. I'm to the point where I"m willing to let McKenna stretch a lil and maybe she'll even come around and actually start eating new stuff.

Doesn't this say it all? Donut and Ice Cream

I just downloaded my picts for the last few weeks and realized I've been neglectful of my journaling duties with the family. I found a great buy on Craig's List-a red wagon to pull my girls around in. The double stroller is a bit heavy and thought this would be fun for them. I got it while Tyler was sick, and came to found out she was a bit unsure and scared of it at first. She's finally warmed up to it and funny enough the girls love to go flying down hills in it.

McKenna is becoming quite the Mommy's helper, pulling the wagon, dusting and vacuuming (which in and of itself is a major deal because she used to be scared to death of it and HATED anything that made a loud engine noise-for a year or 2 I've had suspicions of sensory issues-especially auditory, but she's slowly been outgrowing it).

In our attempt to continue potty training (Really how long is this process supposed to take) we started the chart again with a promise of new shoes when she's gone a week without an accident, well the first was a weekend and then she went a whole week. She's been coveting Target's Pink Sparkly shoes, but funny enough Tyler showed her a really cute pair of sandals, which was what I wanted her to get and she suddenly changed her mind. (Yeah Tyler is only 15 months and was picking out shoes too.) Still wanting the "pink shoes" McKenna found motivation to go a whole week to earn her yet another pair of shoes. Not sure how I"m going to get out of this shoe thing it's starting to get expensive, but I'm getting a little desperate.

Girls love to be outside! This is really how they feel about each other.

Tyler in McKenna's cowboy boots-

she's developed an opinion on her clothes already.

Mother Day 2008

Hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day! I am a big fan of holidays, and especially Mother's Day as I see it as a celebration of Mother & Sisterhood. I'm so thankful for the wonderful Mother I have been blessed with, who is always there for me even over the miles. Hardly a day goes by we don't chat with her. I also have been blessed with a wonderful and sweet Mother-in-Law to which I never expected nor dreamed of always hearing such horror stories about In-Laws. I'm thankful for the good friends who inspire me to be a better person and a better mother by their examples and their positive attitudes.

I think my favorite part about My Mother's day this year was that all church meetings were canceled and I had John with us ALL DAY LONG! John made me pancakes for breakfast and we were actually on time for church! The men took over at church so us women could attend both Sunday School and Relief Society. By the time I made it to SS all seats were taken and so I spent the hour in the halls just outside the primary room which provided good comic relief. The fellas did a fantastic job and it was nice not to have to do anything for the last 2 hrs of church but to just soak it all in!

I love Mother's Day for so many reasons. McKenna brought home this cute little plant from school, love the paper butterfly that's with it. John was instructed not to buy me anything as I got myself a few too many things already this month, mostly in the form of media entertainment. He did get me Rascal Flatts' new CD which is quite good.

I post last 2 pictures these because Tyler has discovered a new love for Brushing her teeth and a new fascination with the electric tooh brush. The 1st picture she is actually saying "cheese" which caught me off guard because I didn't ask her too and she knew to just say it for the camera. Apparently the camera is out a lil too often.

I guess you could say I've been going through Writer's block. I know I'm not the only one to go through it, and I've loved reading blogs of friend's and family. So witty!

Last night for me is definitely worth mentioning. John has a few commitments in the evenings here and there and occasionally I find myself putting the girls to bed by myself. Something that actually intimidates me (yes I am the Mom, something I have to remind myself of from time to time) because for some reason the girls just go down smoother when he's here. Regardless of whether he is home or not I usually go into my room, which is across the hall afterwards to just sit in the silence and soak it in before I go down to do damage control. In a perfect world my kids do clean up before they go to bed, including the kitchen.

While I'm sitting in my happy place I hear a noise downstairs, followed by another one. I jumped and remembered that I had left the doors unlocked...something I NEVER do, especially when John's gone. Trying to remain calm I remember that this is about the time John is supposed to come home, so I call his cell phone and get the answering machine which wasn't a good sign. I then proceeded to call the house thinking if he's home he'll either answer or come to the bottom of the stairs to see what I want, still no response. I then proceeded to go out on my roof/balcony to see if his truck was home. No luck...so I did what any other panicking housewife who was alone would do. Called my neighbor Terry a kind older gentlemant who looks after me, was kind enough to walk down the lane to make sure all was well. Meeting him we found both doors unlocked and not a trace of anyone in the house. A bit relieved he sat down to chat for a minute when we heard the kitchen/carport door open and close. I called out a hello thinking it was John and when no response came Terry jumped out of his seat and into the kitchen almost taking out his sweet wife in the process. Sharon who had been worried had decided to wander down to see if everything was ok giving Terry and I both a heart attack in the process. I am happy to report that there was no intruder last night and it's still a mystery what I heard but I don't ever go without locking the doors anymore. "I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore"-meaning it's different world than the one grew up in, and I'm definitely far more paranoid than I'd like to be.

New Beginnings

McKenna's riding the bus to school is always a point of concern with me. Mostly because she struggles with the idea and misses all the fun in it. I at least used to love riding the bus when I was younger. Most of the time it's quite the ordeal that starts out with the question each morning, "bus?" Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's my response is an enthusiastic "yes" to which she responds, "no bus." That is actually her response EVERY day. Every once in a while I have gotten lucky as I try new ways to make the bus look fun and exciting. Wednesday was one of those days. We were outside playing bubbles and with her new favorite toy, a pink Beany Baby her Great Grandma gave her when she was born. The Tulips are blooming and so we decided to cut one and give it to her bus driver, Debbie. With the mention of Debbie she got a lil nervous and asked for me to "hold me" (she struggles with her pronouns a lil but at 3 I think it's ok as long as we're working on it.) Anyway as I held her and her lil eyes got teary I tried to tell her that it was ok if she needed or wanted to cry. We all get scared sometimes and crying isn't a bad outlet. Her eyes kind of flickered as she stared off into the distance and then she got down to walk with her bear and to tell him, "it's ok."

This was taken her 1st week of school

When the bus pulled up I gave her the purple tulip and she ran for the bus yelling Debbie's name so excited to give her the flower. She then climbed right up into her seat, holding her bear which goes everywhere with her and then blew me kisses as the bus pulled away. It was so sweet and exciting. Tyler and I walked into the house and my jaw dropped, on the floor was her blanket, which is another extension of her. If we get in the car without it she's usually remembered and started screaming for it before we leave the driveway. I knew that this "forgetting" was monumental and either was going to ruin the bus ride or hopefully she really did forget about it. I got lucky, her teachers said she never even noticed.

Today I wondered again what the morning had instore. With Chocolates in hand, and to my relief she actually did quite well, nothing but smiles and blowing kisses. She did take her blanket with her but again at 3 yrs old I'm not really too concerned yet.

McKenna's School picture. Ms Annette Bowen is her teacher on the far left in green. The assistants are Miss Kimberlee on top row next to Ms. Annette, and Miss Lisa who on the bottom far right. Miss Nikole on the top right is her speech therapist.

May Day

I thought the following interesting as Seattle has a few protests and labor strikes that will be going on today.

May 1st, often called May Day, just might have more holidays than any other day of the year. It's a celebration of Spring. It's a day of political protests. It's a neopagan festival, a saint's feast day, and a day for organized labor. In many countries, it is a national holiday.

I found this on Infoplease.com