Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium

We took the kids to the University of Arizona's planetarium.  They have a family night on Thursday evenings with discounted prices and family friendly activities.  We decided this week would be good since Ellie doesn't have school on Friday due to Rodeo and it was the last week for the Brain Teasers exhibit so we picked Steve up from work, which of course the girls thought was fun to get Daddy, then went to 5 Guys Burger and Fries for dinner then off to the planetarium.

The first brain game we stopped at and the girls had fun playing with Daddy.  I even challenged Steve to this game--I think we might have to play it at home and see if we can really develop a strategy.  :)

The girls helping Steve get a farmer, chicken, fox and corn safely across the river with only two seats in the boat.  You know you can't leave the chicken alone with the corn and the fox with the chicken etc.

Lila trying it by herself.  
P.S. Can you see the puzzle the girl is doing in the background?  It has two horseshoes a chain and a ring and you try to get the ring off.  My Grandpa Merrell had that game and I remember spending hours on it until one day I figured it out.  So fun.

Ellie trying to get the shapes to make a T.

They also have a mineral display downstairs that the girls wanted to check out.  The loved it.  They would run around feeling the big rocks and Lila would exclaim "Wock!"  (you know not quite an R sound yet).  We also brought home some crafts we can do to make minerals ourselves.

 They had a thermal imaging camera set up and the static ball that makes your hair stand up--we couldn't talk Ellie in to doing it. We also saw a show in the planetarium where they told the stories of a few constellations with a laser show then they would put the stars up and show you how to find the constellations.  Later they also had a laser show put to music.  As we were leaving we went out to the observatory and got to look at Orion Nebula through a telescope.

It was a fun evening.  I love spending time with my family exploring/creating.

Jakey, Thank You Beary Much

Jake gave the girls gift cards to Build-A-Bear for Christmas.  We were hoping to make the bears with him, but since our plans were foiled by the weather we had to go without him and we missed him.  Here is our adventure:

The girls picked out what animals they wanted.

Lila's bunny getting stuffed.

She didn't want to give her bunny the heart.

Finally putting the heart in.

Just give me my stuffed animal.

Aww-MINE!

Ellie's dog getting stuffed.  
(Notice she is even standing the foot that makes the stuffing go into the animal.)

Ellie rubbing her dogs heart against her heart.

Putting the heart inside.

At the grooming station.  
They loved this so much we had to buy a brush and they are having a hard time sharing it.

After the grooming station there is of course all sorts of accessories you can buy for your new friend.  Lila loved the shoes, but would take them off of her bunny when we put them on so we decided not to buy them.  Ellie loved everything and we assured her that we could find or make other clothes for her dog, but we did get this cute carrying bag for her dog.

They then went on to the naming station.  Where you scan in your animals unique UPC code and give it a name (they also put a copy of the UPC inside the animal so if it gets lost they can trace it to you).  Lila, with the help of Daddy, named her bunny Hopper.  Ellie asked me what the name of the girl with the really long hair was and decided to name her dog Rapunzel.

On our way out of the mall with our creations.

Thank you, Jakey!  It was a great experience.

Can You Feel the Love

Our day started with delicious Raspberry Sour Cream pancakes shaped like hearts.

The girls received a valentine, three books, and a chocolate kiss 
from Dad & Mom.

Ellie went back to school just in time for her Valentine party 
(after missing all of last week because she was sick).

The "Treat Transmitters"  Ellie made for her class.

The flowers I made for the Young Women I work with at Church.

The girls played outside because it was almost 80 today.

We had our traditional Fondue dinner.

The girls received a card with stickers and treats 
from Grandpa & Grandma Moore.

Mimi made these adorable aprons for all of us.  
Which the girls love to use with their newly acquired play kitchen.

Hugs and Kisses to all!

Go Ellie Go

We enrolled Ellie in a sports class this semester.  So far they have played soccer, basketball, and t-ball (w/a wiffle ball).  She is having fun and we are really proud of her and how she has become more outgoing.  The first class started a little shaky--she was nervous and ended up sitting by us during the stretches and warm-up portion, but then she got into it and hasn't looked back.  

Warming up by running in-and-out of cones. They also do this with the sport they are learning weaving in-and-out kicking soccer balls or bouncing basketballs.

Continuing to warm up by running and hopping
on a trail of dots.

Waiting for instructions.  I love the size of all their equipment and I find it hard not to want to buy it all so she can practice at home.

Practicing dribbling.  She really did good--just needed to bounce it a little harder so she didn't have to bend over so much.

Sweet shot.

I know this is blurry, but it is so cute she got really good and even made it on the tallest hoop several times.  She got home and told Steve that she didn't even need the thing on the back of the hoop to bounce her ball off of (that's right she didn't use the backboard--they were all swishes).

A little confused about which way to swing and how to hold the bat.

Miss Tucker helping her figure it out.

Swing batter-batter, swing.

Miss Tucker set-up bases and they played a game for a little bit.  Ellie had a really good swing at a pitched ball.  She asked some parents to participate as base coaches so I didn't get any pictures because I coached first.  Let me tell you how crazy it gets when kids who are running the bases want to chase down a hit ball instead.  :)

I asked Ellie what has been her favorite so far and she said she liked soccer the best and then baseball.  She thought controlling the basketball while it was bouncing was hard even though she did really good.

I am proud of her learning and trying new things, but what makes me the proudest is watching her follow instructions, patiently wait for her turn, and help others get a turn when somebody may have stepped in front of them.  She truly is an amazing girl and I am so grateful for her!

Next week, hockey.  :)

Freezing Temps

We are attempting to break over hundred year old records here with freezing temperatures.  They have nick-named us The "Cold" Pueblo for right now.  It got down to 18degrees last night and let me tell you this place is not made for that.  

Lila has still not been feeling well and had a rough night last night.  I used the restroom after attending to her, only to find that there was not water to wash my hands.  I immediately woke-up Steve and said I think our pipes are frozen.  We through on some jackets, grabbed a flashlight and headed out to see if there was any serious damage.  The wind was blowing hard and we soon realized our jackets were not enough.  We came back inside and we both began searching the internet for ideas on what to do.  We grabbed a blanket from the garage to wrap the pipes and then decided we would try thawing it with my hairdryer.  So we bundled up in our Columbia ski jackets with the face mask portion zipped up and hoods on, layered on more pants, and went back out.  The water began to run again after about 15-20 minutes of the hairdryer.  We wrapped the pipe with the blanket, secured it with some twine, and turned on a faucet inside the house with a drip to avoid any other problems.

When I went to take Lila to the doctor at 11:30 am our neighbors were out thawing their pipes with a blow-torch because they still had not thawed.

Let me tell you how grateful I am that was our only little snag--14,000 people were without gas during this incident due to a gas shortage.  We tried to do our part by turning the heat off during the day and only using hot water when necessary.  Even Ellie's preschool teacher was without heat and hot water.  There were several schools closed due to water pipes breaking or no heat and Church has even been shortened to sacrament meeting only.

We are supposed to be back in the 60s by Saturday.  Lovely winter temperatures once again.  :)

Shoe Therapy

You've heard that buying a pair of shoes makes you feel better, but what about trying on a pair if their not yours. . .

We were all home today with a little cold--except Ellie who has managed to not get sick (and I pray she doesn't).  Anyway, they spent the morning trying on my shoes and walking around the house.  Girls will be girls.  :)  Can you believe they could get around in those shoes?  Do you think Ellie has fancy taste?

Tonight sweet Ellie prayed that we could all feel better so we could attend Church next Sunday--I'm glad she missed it, as did we.

Buzz

Tuesday night while I went visiting teaching Steve was getting some packages ready to ship. Unbeknown to Steve, Ellie was taking his scraps and being creative.  When I got home she showed me her "Buzz Lightyear".

Here is our "buzz" for the last couple of weeks.  

Steve and I got a craving late one night and decided to make these cupcakes.  They are delicious and I think I have found my new favorite chocolate frosting.

Steve and I also had the opportunity to go see Wicked at Centennial Hall.  We went out to Cafe Poca Cosa for dinner with some friends before the show.  It was a memorable evening and if you have a chance to see the show--we recommend it.  As I was getting ready for the evening, Ellie asked what we were doing that night.  I told her that we were going to go see a Broadway show and she asked what that was.  I explained that it's like play where people sing music and tell a story.  She said with desire in her voice, "I like music and stories."  I told her we would tell her all about it the next day which we did and even listened to the music.

Ellie is such a big helper around the house.  She went to the dentist this week and did a wonderful job.  She is growing up and making good choices and I am so proud of her.

Lila's favorite lullaby since Christmas has been Away in a Manager.  I love singing that song to her before bedtime the message of our Savior's birth and the desire to be near Him as a child . . . what more could you want to say to your child before bedtime.

I am so grateful for these two beautiful girls in my life!  Recent events would be so much harder to bear if not for these two joys!

A Message I Needed to Hear

"There is an important concept here: patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!"

"Patience is a godly attribute that can heal souls, unlock treasures of knowledge and understanding, and transform ordinary men and women into saints and angels. Patience is truly a fruit of the Spirit."

". . . the work of patience boils down to this: keep the commandments; trust in God, our Heavenly Father; serve Him with meekness and Christlike love; exercise faith and hope in the Savior; and never give up. The lessons we learn from patience will cultivate our character, lift our lives, and heighten our happiness. They will help us to become faithful disciples of our Master, Jesus Christ."

If you would like to read the whole talk it is located here: lds.org

YEAH!

Well we rang in a new year.  We took the girls to see Tangled on New Year's eve.  It was really cute and they both enjoyed it. The girls and I went to get seats while Steve got popcorn and refilled our drink.  As we were sitting in our seats someone in front of us walked by with a large popcorn and Lila says, "pop-corn".  It was so cute.  I love that she is learning and saying new words.  They enjoyed the popcorn as much as the movie.  As we left I asked Ellie what her favorite part was and she said, "EVERYTHING".  She then began retelling the story from the very beginning with a part I had already forgotten about.  We then had pizza for dinner and played a game.  The next day we did our traditional Aebleskivers for breakfast and hung out.


Today before church we made new family rules for the year and worked on our family's emotion stoplight chart.  We are all going to work on controlling our emotions by following these steps (1) STOP (2) Calm Down and think about our choices (3) Go by Choosing the Right (CTR).  We posted this stoplight chart on the fridge, Ellie's night stand where she can see it from her bed and one in the car.  Ellie is a really good girl, but if she gets upset about something there is no reasoning with her so I'm hoping this will help her control her emotions and make appropriate choices not reactions out of frustration.  As a family we decided that the consequence to not obeying the rules is to go to our room for a time-out until we can make the right choice (this has really seemed to work lately).

Don't you love Ellie's pictures of the stoplight and us eating together at the table and her CTR shield

Lila has recently started saying, "yeah".  It is so cute.  She can say it really enthusiastically if she is excited about something. I love it!  It is so much better than the sassy "no". She has also taken to grabbing your clothes while saying your name to get you to go where she wants--it is pretty cute.  Here are some recent pictures of the "yeah" girl and her big sister.

Lila found my lipstick while I was blow drying my hair--seriously she can cause chaos in moments.

Of course she is upset because I took it away.

Decorating cupcakes with Daddy while Mommy went to mutual--Thank you Melanie.  :)

Lila's pajamas and swimsuits are in the same drawer and after putting on her pajamas she kept moving her arms like she was swimming and insisted on wearing the swimsuit.

They love it when I clean the couch cushions because they can climb on the cushions on the ground and jump on the cushion-less couch.

Showing how stylish they are.

My BIG girl.

Lila has been going number 2 in the potty since we got back from Christmas so I decided to put her in "training panties" as Ellie calls them to see how she did with number 1.  She got frustrated after an hour so we put a diaper back on, but she continues to go number 2 and an occasional number 1 in the potty.