Grandparents Day

As soon as Ellie found out they would be having grandparent day (which was like the first day of school).  She begged me to ask Mimi and Grandpa to come.  Mimi drove down today just for this--how sweet is that!  Ellie was so excited she put on a special dress.  Her class sang a song and then they did some crafts together and Ellie gave Mimi her water coloring of the two of them.

Mimi is on the left and Ellie drew herself in her flamingo shirt on the right.

Later we went to dinner with Venessa, Izzy, Sienna, Jake and Marcee so it was a very eventful day with a late bed time which will make for an interesting morning, but that is how the memories are created, right?

Snakes

Our super nice neighbor offered to watch the girls yesterday so that Steve and I could attend a session of the Brigham City Temple dedication.  The girls were excited because I told them all about the animals they have: snakes, birds, turtles, ducks, chickens, llamas and more.  When we picked them up Sister Franklin said, "Your girls like animals."  I said, "I know."  She said, "No they really like animals.  Before they came I thought I would cover the snakes so they wouldn't scare them and then Ellie said, 'I want to see your snakes.' So I showed them and they thought it was cool and then Ellie asked to touch it so I thought ok and then Lila wanted to hold it."  She then proceeded to show me how the girls held the snake (Steve held it too, but I didn't get a picture--I was staying far away).

After this demonstration, Lila asked to get Dusty out of his cage:

Sister Franklin was surprised because Dusty would groom Lila's hair and Lila thought it was awesome.  She said most kids shy away at a bird picking at their hair.

I guess Mr. Dora, the turtle, was Lila's favorite but she refused to hold him while we were there because he had poo on him (good girl--shy away from poopy things, but hold a snake ;) ).  So here is a picture of Mr. Dora and Ellie with the snake again.

 

The girls didn't want to leave.  They had crafted, played with animals, and enjoyed pumpkin cookies--I don't blame them.  They fed the ducks a roll and got to pick a peacock feather to take home with them.  As we were leaving I asked how much an annual membership would be to the Franklin petting zoo.


We have also had a lot of water snakes in our yard, which I discovered one evening in sandals as it slithered across my foot--yes I freaked out and then I have seen 4 or 5 more.  I'm just glad they aren't the really scary kind!

Scooter Brigade and More

Ellie had been asking me to ride her scooter to school (a popular thing to do) for several days last week, but there were meetings and things I had to do right after dropping her off so finally on Thursday we set out on scooter.  She was so excited and we ran into a couple of her friends here in the neighborhood and she rode with them while I followed behind.  She was in heaven and I wish I would have had my camera there to take a picture.  I told her I would just fold the scooter up and take it home, but she begged to park it on the racks with everyone else so I let her.  She rode again yesterday and I snapped a picture (as I was trying to keep up--man is it a work out to keep up with her).

Just threw the ball in.

Saturday, Ellie had a soccer game and Mimi, Grandpa and Jakey came since they had stayed the night after going to the Brigham City Temple Open House with us.  At practice, Ellie does great she can follow directions and learn the strategies and moves and she really gets into it, but at the games it is a bit intimidating when there are 10 girls hovering and kicking one ball (just not her personality to be aggressive).  So Saturday, I told her I would give her a penny for every time she kicked the ball and then Mimi said she would give her a quarter.  She got in the game and was kicking away--she usually tires out, but we explained they only had 5 players that day and everyone was going to play the whole game and then one of their players sat out for 2 quarters due to a minor injury (more upsetting than actually hurt).  So they were down a man, playing 4-on-5, but were still holding the other team.  Then Jakey upped the anty by telling Ellie he would give her all the money in his wallet if she scored a goal.  Jake checked his wallet and realized he had $500, but wasn't too nervous because Ellie has never gotten close to scoring a goal.  Right at the end of the game she managed to kick the ball at the net and it narrowly missed--we all screamed loud with excitement and that is what she remembers us screaming.  It may not be her sport in the long run, but she has fun and we have fun watching her so it is a win-win.

Going after the ball. :)

Playing defense.

Funnies:
Last week we were sleeping with the windows open and one morning it was particularly cold.  Lila came down and said the cold air made Ellie sick because she has something in her throat, "I said like a frog." Lila, "No. More like a snake."

Lila says, "I have a DIa." instead of idea.  And "I forgetful." instead of forgot.

Last night my cell phone rang and I asked Ellie to hand it to me she said, "It's Mimi. It's your Mom."  (I love how they start to put it together!) 

Brigham City Temple Open House

We reserved tickets to attend the Brigham City Temple Open House the day they became available and made plans to attend as an extended family last night.  I had heard a rumor that it was taking two hours because it was the last week, but we still decided to go.  It is such a neat experience to teach our girls about the importance of the temples and let them feel the Spirit that is there in the Lord's house.  There was a wait, but it was a beautiful night and we enjoyed the company of the Olenslagers, Mimi & Grandpa, and Jakey & Marcee.

Lila was adorable during the video and was looking at the pamphlet with pictures of the temple and asking about each room and then noticing them if they appeared in the video.  Ellie loved holding Ema's hand and walking through.  

We took pictures as we were waiting in line which I'm glad we did because we didn't get out of the temple until 9:30 pm and then we hit traffic and didn't get home until 11 pm, but it was worth it.  Anyway, we didn't get a group shot, but we are so glad that everyone came with us!

 

Joy School

Lila and I are participating in a neighborhood Joy School.  She is so excited to be going to school like Ellie.  We have been reviewing a few rules so she likes to tell everyone, "when you go to school you only say nice things, we don't say I hate you, we say I love you. You never hit, punch, or kick and we always share."  Hopefully she'll remember and implement. ;) She went for the first time on Monday and had a ball and cannot wait to go again today.

Note the adorable new skirt Aunt Nessa bought her.  She said, "OH I LOVE IT!! Put it on and hasn't taken it off.  She did let me wash it yesterday." :)

First Day of First Grade

A few weeks ago we talked about how she was going to school all day and she asked, "Am I ever gonna be home with you all day again?"  She has grown up a lot over the summer and was both excited and nervous for 1st grade.  

It was a good morning.  Steve's parents, Carole and Russ were here with Katie and Lexie which was fun to have them enjoy the moment with us.  I think it also helped with Ellie's nerves because she just adores Katie and Lexie.  We had eggs, bacon, and Krispy Kreme donuts as is our tradition.  Then we had a few pictures and walked out the door and were able to walk to the school with Ellyn and her Dad.  Lila was enjoying all the excitement and wanted to be involved, you can see her coming out the door while we were taking pictures and holding Ellie's locker open for her.  When we got home, she looked at me and said, "Now what do we do?"

Ellie was a little nervous when we arrived, you can see her hesitation in the doorway above, but when she saw the papers at her desk that was a grin of true excitement to be back at school.  We had a little confusion with the teacher about pickup so we'll have to see how tomorrow goes.  On the way home I asked her what she thought and she said she was tired of walking because they walked all day touring where they would have recess and lunch etc.  She was a little upset because she put her empty juice box back in her lunchbox and it leaked.  I asked who she ate lunch with and she said, "A lot of kids who aren't in my class."  I asked for names and she couldn't give me any.  I asked her who she played with at recess and she again said, "A lot of kids who aren't in my class."  She did expand and tell me she played four square and jump rope.  I hope to someday get names, but for now I'll just be glad she enjoyed her day.

Ellie is a sweet girl who when later today saw her Mom was having a rough evening and casually mentioned I wanted a drink, she got up, got a glass and asked me what I wanted.  Don't get me wrong that afternoon she was literally bouncing off the couches and I could not stop her and she was driving me crazy, but she has such a strong desire to do what is right and I love her so much!

Swimming Lessons

Way back in May I registered the girls for two sessions of swimming lessons, back-to-back.  So for 4 weeks we have been getting up and going to the pool by 9am.  I thought it would be good practice in getting us up and ready for school . . . anyway, I put the girls in the level 1 class for their age group for both sessions because I know Ellie has some fears to overcome and I didn't know what to expect with Lila.  We did the first session and all went well.  Ellie was doing some bobs and was having fun, but was still not really comfortable in the water.  Lila did great in her class and since it is the younger age group the requirements are not as difficult and she advanced. So I called the pool after the first session and asked if Lila could be bumped up to the level 2 and they did that and then I asked if they offered private lessons because I felt like Ellie needed some one-on-one time to help get her over the hump and they said yes. So I withdrew her for the second session and told them I wanted to do private lessons--well to make a long story short, it's been almost two weeks and nothing has been scheduled, I even tried 2 other private instructors.  What's a mom to do? I didn't want her to feel bad that she wasn't in lessons, which she does and asks me every day about the private lessons. So tonight we went swimming as a family so the girls could show off their skills to Daddy and I could spend some time with Ellie. To be honest I didn't think she would listen to me--you know that whole your my parent and you already tell me what to do too much, but she did great and after adjusting her goggles a bit she would bob in-and-out of the water comfortably, would stay under water and watch my fingers until they got to 10--that's right she stayed under water for 10 seconds with her eyes open!!!!  This is huge for a girl who was scared to get her face wet.  As for Lila, she was bobbing in-and-out 10 times and would jump in and put her face in the water while front floating. Here's my little swimmers in action:


Lila's first session:

Second session--she was fortunate enough to have the same teacher (and a picture of her floating in a life jacket on safety instruction day):

Ellie's swim lessons (on the last day they let them play on the equipment for the last 10 minutes and give them a popsicle) and the last picture is her under water from tonight:

I'm so proud of each of them and what they are accomplishing!

Lila's Owie

On Tuesday we got stuck behind a tractor for almost 1/2 of our drive to swim lessons which made us a few minutes late. So after we had safely crossed the parking lot and were on the sidewalk I told the girls to run. I had a quick thought that Lila might fall (her coordination is still in question while running sometimes), but I ignored the thought, a decision I have regretted all week. She did indeed fall scraping her knee--nothing new, so I thought. She acted like she couldn't walk all day making me set her on the potty when she needed to go and crying all day about her owie and didn't even want to go to gym class that evening. Wednesday morning came and she said she felt better and then all of the sudden she couldn't walk again. I made blueberry pancakes and that gave her strength, somehow, she did fine in swim lessons and played all morning with Ellie until after lunch she screamed at me to come quickly--her scab opened in one spot and was bleeding ever so slightly, she once again could not walk. We were getting ready to go somewhere and she once again couldn't move her leg so she peed all over--I have to admit, I lost it, not one of my finer moments. I told her I was putting some neosporin and a bandaid on she went hysterical, but I did it anyways and guess what she managed through the two days just fine. Thursday evening she had an hour gym class she did great running, jumping etc. We stayed for free play and about 45 minutes in her bandaid fell off while jumping on the trampoline and she instantly could not move again. Another parent there saw the whole thing and was laughing. He asked if it was her first owie and I said no, but the most dramatic so much so that at one point I actually thought she may have broken something. Well this morning her second bandaid was starting to fall off so I recorded a little in an attempt to capture the drama (seriously this video is not nearly as dramatic as our week has been with the owie, but at least I have proof ;)

It was bound to happen . . .

Wednesday evening while Mimi and Grandpa were visiting, Ellie was showing off her new bike riding skills. She was doing pretty good, but Mimi's car in our drive way was throwing off her turn and next thing we knew she was in the tree. I took these pictures with my cell phone to text to Daddy who was in Texas (sad I didn't take pictures with my real camera):

It caused a nice big scab, but she quickly heals (oh to be young). I was afraid she would be traumatized and not want to ride her bike again, but after a couple pieces of pizza I asked if she wanted to go back out and she said, "yes." And once she got going again she didn't want to stop.

Another thing that was bound to happen was the passing of time since our move--yes it has been a year since I tearfully drove out of our driveway in Tucson leaving my husband behind to finish his degree (whew--the memories still bring tears to my eyes. I don't remember if I shared this story, but Steve said he was pretty emotional that day too. He said he went into the house after we drove off to finish packing some things to take over to our Bishop's guest house where he would be staying and he said he could hear the girls laughing and playing and he just had to leave because it was too much.) Steve joined us a couple of months later although it felt like forever in that apartment with my two little ones and all of the sickness we endured acclimating to a new area and now here we are . . . Steve loves his job and the guys he gets to work with, we have a beautiful new home with wonderful neighbors, and the girls are getting bigger which I guess is what they are supposed to do, but the one thing that hasn't changed is the fact that Tucson and the many wonderful people we had the opportunity to associate with there will always hold a special place in our hearts. 

I guess we each conquer our own fears of the unknown as we traverse through life--from riding a bike to moving and new jobs. Occassionally we may get bumped and bruised, but I think overall our hearts and minds expand as we grow and learn.

2 Summer Goals Completed

Amidst all of our activities and projects there were two goals, one with each of my girls, I wanted to accomplish this summer; Ellie riding a bike without training wheels and Lila completely potty trained.  This week has been a culmination and completion (for the most part) of these goals.  Lila is determined to wear panties all the time now and has gone three full days without accidents including night time which is taking it to a whole new level.  Then tonight Ellie got the confidence to get on the big bike and go for a ride and she did it. We'll get out there a few more times and practice turning and stopping and going, and continue to encourage Lila, but overall I am so proud of what they have accomplished amid our summer chaos!

Training wheels passed onto the next one:

 Although after 5 minutes she went back to riding the trike. ;)

Spudman = Studman

Steve's team (my Dad and Marcee-Jake's girlfriend) got first in their division. They had a wonderful time and we are so proud of all of them. Wish we could have been there to cheer them on and enjoy the day.

Hand, Foot, Mouth--OUCH!

On Sunday I went to do Ellie's hair for church and noticed she felt really warm.  I took her temperature and sure enough 101.8 so she was staying home from church and I decided that Lila would also stay home since we were still trying to get back on a normal sleep schedule from our trip.  They both took a nap and Ellie had to be woken-up after 3 hours.  Lila was upset when she realized she did not get to go to church. I warned the Robinsons that Ellie had a fever, but they were willing to take the risk and I hope they don't get sick. Tuesday afternoon Ellie was in tears about how bad her throat hurt so I thought maybe it's strep. Called the doctors office,  but they were not open because of Pioneer Day so we decided to wait it out.  Before nap time Lila said I don't feel well I need some medicine--I thought she may just be wanting some attention so I told her we would wait and see after nap time.  She turned to Ellie and said I won't cry when I take my medicine (getting Ellie to drink the childrens medicine is an ordeal and she cries every time). That evening Lila starts feeling warm so I give her some Advil and send her to bed. She wakes up in the middle of the night boiling hot 102.3 I try to give he some more Advil and she goes hysterical on me--what happened to the I won't cry? Long night with no real sleep. Ellie wakes up feeling much better so at that point I think it can't be strep must just be a viral infection that will go away. Lila does ok--I keep Tylenol and Advil in her to keep the fever down. Doesn't sleep at all that night. Thursday she is really cranky and wants me to be by her all day--I think it is just due to lack of sleep.  That night I notice her walking with her toes curled up and I ask if her feet hurt which she says yes. So I check her feet and there is a bumpy rash and it is on her knees and legs so now I don't know what to think. She sleeps better that night because her fever broke, but when I check her rash in the morning I notice it all on her arms and the palms of her hands so I call the doctor. In we go, they run a strep culture and then the doctor comes in and takes a look at the rash and says, "It's Hand, Foot, Mouth disease. It is one of the few infections that cause a rash with blister like lesions on the palm of the hands and we are seeing a lot of it this year."  She says the disease can be very painful with usually the third day being the worse--huh, that explains, Tuesday for Ellie and Thursday for Lila. The rash can be in their mouth which causes what they explain as a sore throat. I ask if she is still contagious even though she no longer has a fever--the answer is yes and it is an airborne disease. So everyone can be grateful we have been staying home all week--no gym classes, no story-time, nothing . . . we even had to miss our weekend plans to be in Idaho to see Steve and my family do the Spudman triathlon. So we've played with play-dough, made those iron bead shapes, and cut and colored like crazy--my house is a mess because I'm too tired to care and I can't believe I'm going to post pictures of it, but I thought the pictures Ellie has on display are cute.

Toys are rarely allowed downstairs and here is my front room covered in toys.

Ellie has taped pictures up all over the house (how many can you see in this picture and there is one in the previous picture). I'm just grateful she asked before attempting to glue them to the wall. ;)

Ellie's artistic take on Dad &Mom. Notice her initials. Steve noticed a few weeks ago that when she was drawing other people's pictures she was putting their initials too and Steve explained that is how an artist signs their picture--now everything she does either has EM or ENM on it. :)

The girls have been feeling much better today and played together really well this afternoon so much so that I didn't notice Lila get out the things of chapstick and apply it to her whole face, her stuffed puppy's face, and the green body pillow I have been letting her sleep with. I explain to her that chapstick only goes on our lips and that I'm throwing it out as punishment. She says, "I'm sorry I made a bad choice." I don't know if there was any remorse or just stating a fact . . . I guess we've moved on to different dilemmas.  Cheers!

*Note: the creative house destruction continues Saturday morning with the help of Mom's crocheting thread.

P.S. that's the men's olympic road race I'm watching while crocheting and hoping Steve's race is going safe and well (really I shouldn't listen to all the scary injury stories or see the crashes while my husband is doing his own race).

B-E-N

We had the opportunity to visit with some dear friends from Arizona last night. I told the girls the Robinsons would be coming to visit and you should have heard the cheers. Ben and Ellie were best friends in Arizona and we have sent birthday cards and called a few times, but nothing beats a play-date. The girls did a few chores and then I put them down for an early nap (Ellie had been running a fever so she needed some extra rest). After which they could not stand the anticipation and eventually Ellie pulled a chair up to the front window to watch for them.

I asked her if she remembered what color their van was and she said, "Yes, it's white." And she saw their car before it turned off the main road and was screaming, "They're here! They're here!" 


The kids played and we enjoyed visiting. Steve and Dusty had some good discussions about work and took down a wasps' nest in our basketball hoop that sent the kids running inside. We stayed up way past everyone's bedtime, but were so glad they took an extra day to visit us.

Ellie chased their van down the street and even shed a few tears for them after they left. We love the Robinsons!

Cali-For-Ni-A

Steve's parents set a date for their 50th Anniversary party 18 months ago and requested the attendance of everyone. A place was found near Trinity, CA and we have all been making preparations for the big event, which happened this past week, and it was wonderful! The place was beautiful, set in the mountains with a wonderful area for the kids to play and explore.

We arrived late Monday, July 16th since it was a 13hour drive. The girls could barely stand the anticipation of playing with all of their cousins. The next day was overcast and rainy so we started the day with a craft for the kids.

The afternoon sprinkles didn't deter the kids from going outside and playing. Grandma and Grandpa gave them squirt guns so between that and the rain everyone enjoyed getting a little sprinkled on. Ellie loved the large tree swing and was out there even in the rain.

Steve spent a couple of hours Wednesday morning pushing kids and adults on the swing. I setup a chair and read a book while monitoring the line. We had to make sure they stayed back far enough to not get hit by the swing--Lila got hit the first day because she was intent on picking up crab-apples and after almost falling off (as pictured below) she didn't ever get on the swing again.

They spent some time building and painting a castle out of boxes that Grandma and Grandpa brought.























We went swimming, played Moore Family Jeopardy, Grandma painted all of the granddaughters' nails, and we ate a ton of food-- that was all within the first two days. Wednesday evening we had an Anniversary celebration with a slide show of pictures from Carole and Russ's childhood into their early family life. We videotaped the presentation and all the stories and banter and hope to have a nice little family history for everyone. It was an enjoyable evening celebrating their life and legacy. We had a celebratory cake and Carole and Russ cut and fed each other.

Thursday, July 19 we decided to go for a hike. Our group was told that there was a 3 mile family hike just 11 miles away. What we didn't realize was that the 11 miles was on curvy dirt road so it took us 40 minutes to get to the trail-head and then our group got separated and some of us back tracked--anyway it ended up being a good workout and by the time we got to the lake there was some luminous clouds that looked like they were quickly bringing a storm so we took a few pictures and then jetted out of there. 

Uncle Tim let Ellie and Emry ride on his shoulders for part of the way out and Lila actually fell asleep in Steve's arms.



That evening we had a photographer come and take pictures--what a group!

Then we roasted marshmallows. 

Friday morning were departures and most everyone was on there way by 7am, we weren't in too big of a hurry so we took our time getting out and of course Ellie asked if she could go swing some more and Lila rang the dinner bell to tell everyone that "dinner was ready and they were making a salad". (We did have a salad every night with dinner so I thought that was cute.) Lila enjoyed giving little hugs, then medium hugs, all the way up to giant hugs to Aunt Debbie.


Carole passed out little notes that Grandma Gravell had written about each of the children.  It was fun to read--here is a snippet from after the family moved to Atascadero: 
Grandma Gravell, "Do you still think the country is for old people?" 
Steve, "Yes. It was my mother's idea to move to the country." 
"But your mother isn't old."
"Yes she is. She is a grandmother."


We had to take the same road out that we took in because the road was curvy and not very wide and we saw huge boulders in the road. We thought for sure one of the other families coming in from Idaho/Utah would have seen it, but somehow we each took different routes so the big joke was the "legendary road with the mythical boulder".  Now before you look at the pictures remember when we were coming in it was the dark of night and raining which caused a fog like steam to come off the road--really hard to see and a bit nerve racking. However, during the day the drive was beautiful.

The girls traveled really well and have recently taken to wearing their headphones while watching a movie which allows Steve and I to listen to a book on tape through the stereo. We made a stop in Battle Mountain each way and we allowed the girls to pick out a treat--I think that may have been they're favorite part of traveling.  Also on the way to California Steve went next door to the auto part store and replaced my rear window wiper which needed to be done for a while--nice to kill two birds with one stone.

It was a wonderful trip! Carole and Russ said it exceeded their expectations and I think we would all agree!