A quick update

I didn't realize it had been so long since I updated this blog. I have bunches of pictures but they are mostly on my phone. We are good. I have started to work a little, a few hours every day. The neighbor girl comes over for 2 hours before school and then a little 1 year old comes in the afternoon for a few hours. It has given us a little bit of play money and helped out a few tight months. I am grateful for it. Alexis is doing really well in 1st grade. She had her art work chosen to be displayed at another school and got a certificate. She is so proud of that! Megan is turning out to be a serious climber and can scale the kitchen cabinets with ease. She loves to dress herself and usually ends up with her clothes on backwards or inside out. Britt bought a car hauler so we are in business for ourselves. It is frightening but a good change. He is home everyday and every Sunday.

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I am thankful for my calling. I just love the kids and getting to teach them and learn from them is the best. I get to be in meetings that can be boring, but I learn so much from those around me.

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I am thankful for my parents. They are always there to help me and support me. They take my kiddos so I can do my calling and get out of the house while Britt is gone. I was truly blessed with goodly parents.

Thankfuls

I really want to do the thankful thing, but I am super forgetful. I will give it a shot.
1) I am thankful for my hubby. He works so hard for us. Sacrificing sleep, eating and family time so that we can survive.
2) Alexis loving to read. Last night she read for an hour and a half in level 3 books with almost no problems.
3) baptism. We had 4 child of record baptism in our ward today.  So grateful that I can repent and be clean.

Camping Trip

I know another collage but hey I am all caught up so ha! Camping trip to Cove Resort on Fish Lake. You can't swim in Fish Lake so we drove 5 minutes down the road to Lake Wenatchee State Park. Great lake, clean and clear, cold as can be but on a hot July day it was perfect. We had a great time and are excited to go camping again in a month! 

Zoo Field Trip

Kindergarten Zoo Field trip! I am sorry all of these are in a collage, but hey at least they are here finally!

Posing in a dress that I played dress-up in as a little girl!

The rest of the pictures. She is so funny! 

Alexis the photographer 

First friend party

 

 

 

She put her cupcake in the water.

 

 

 

 

Megan turns "2"

 

 

 

 

 

Has it really been since April that I posted? We have had a few changes such as Britt going back to work for KT Auto Transport and Alexis finishing Kindergarten and Megan turning 2. Britt is now working away from home going to California, Utah or Arizona.  They are getting him home every week for Sunday though so it is way better then him being in Alaska all the time.  Alexis' last day of Kindergarten was kind of sad for me and her.  She loves her teacher Mrs. Maloney and I do too.  She has learned how to read from her, write stories, and math. Alexis at age 5 can read almost anything we put in front of her. She is amazing, even reading subtitles during movies(all of them before they go off the screen!) I am truly impressed with her abilities and hope she continues to love reading.  She now helps us read the scriptures and is understanding them better because she follows along.  I have pictures to post and will have to do a whole post or 2 for them of the Zoo field trip and her getting her award. I really am so surprised at how fast these girls are growing up and love them so much. 

Megan at 2
*She says lots of things but her most favorite phrase is "I want__________."
*She also throws little fits when we say no that includes stomping and swinging her arms, screaming and grunting, holding her breath and spitting all while saying what she wants or doesn't want in between each action.  I think it is pretty funny how upset she gets so I usually just walk away or wait until she is done.
*Diapers are not her favorite but then she doesn't want to go potty either. So
She spends a lot of the day running around naked because she has ripped her diaper off and ran away laughing. As long as she doesn't have accidents I consider this pre-potty training.
*Loves outside. Digging in the dirt, playing in water, swinging, riding bikes, climbing in the play house, sliding, running around and playing with the dog.
*injuries. She likes to fall on her head, namely for forehead. Poor little lady seems to always have a bruise or scratches. I watch her run and know why it is her head. She leans forward so when she falls her head leads the way.  It is so sad. She is a petite little thing weighing only 22 pounds and is skinny. I think her head is heavier then her body so it goes down harder too, haha!
*Still loves mommy the most.
*loves climbing the bunk bed and waking Alexis up.
*LOVES BABIES. everything about them real ones, fake ones, pictures, bottles, Barbies, seriously loves them.  She got 3 new ones for her birthday and a stroller, playpen and a highchair/swing. Heaven on Earth for this little momma.
*Loves stories
*Loves candy (threw a fit last night because she couldn't have any!)
*Pushes chairs around to get things off the counters
*Loves yogurt
*Daddy says she is like a cannon ball and just throws caution to the wind and goes with reckless abandonment! This really describes her very well.
*She is so gently to babies and animals
*Calls all animals except horses, dogs and cats animals.  It is really cute.
*Likes horsy rides on daddy
*She is very serious and doesn't go to just anyone. There are is a man in our ward who is in his 30's and has a mental disability, who we just happen to see a lot around town when we shop, on Sunday he was walking down the hall and put his arms out to her and she ran down to him and hugged his legs and then smiled when he picked her up. I was really impressed because she seriously doesn't do that for many people. I hope she always is kind to others especially those people who are kind and sweet to the core like this man is. 
*loves Nursery class.
*Loves to snuggle with me in bed in the morning and gets mad if I sneak out after she falls back to sleep.
*Likes play dough
*helps with the laundry and dishes
I know there are more things she has mastered at age 2 but right now my mind is full of the images I have put down already! We love our little Meggers, Nutmeg, Meggy, Meg and Megan so much!

I guess I didn't take any pictures from the reception. bummer it was so sweet. There was also something on the lens that I didn't notice. I can get the spot out if I take the time.

We went on a walk today for FHE. Megan never gets to walk because it takes forever, but tonight we let her try. She tried to go down every single driveway we passed...it was so frustrating.  At every one we would have to pick up kicking a screaming.  We cut through the park in our neighborhood which has a slide that is very Washingtonized(covered in green junk and moss from the winter.) so we hadn't planned on stopping, but Megan had.  We kept walking and she detoured. We tried waving and saying bye which caused her to pause, cry but continue on her way after a few seconds. At one point she was stomping her feet and crying, but she decided to climb the ladder anyways. So Daddy got her down and was leading her to me with his hand on the back of her head.  She kept shaking her head to try and stop his hand from touching her and crying until she got to me.  Little stinker. She is sleeping in a bunk bed with Alexis now.  It is so cute to see her tiny little body in such a big bed. Alexis is on the top bed and is loving bedtime right now.  We still need to switch the rooms around and make the other room a play room.  So far it is working good!  

Hopefully tomorrow I can get pictures up of our spring break. It was great!

Alexis has been saying the funniest things and i kick myself for not writing them down right away. I did tonight though. She got home from school and I checked her lunch since she has to be on such a restricted diet. She didn't eat the chicken. When I asked her why?  She asked if chicken comes from animals. when I told her it did, she said no way am I eating that. Later she was doing her online homework stuff and called to daddy "Come look it is going to crack your life up Daddy."  Megan was trying to grab something off the counter and slipped off the box she was using and kind of cried. Alexis jumped up, ran over to pick her up and then turned on us and asked us in the most accussing voice she could muster "what is wrong with you 2 parents, she is hurt and you didn't even get up to get her." She lovingly brought the injured child to me who promptly stopped crying and got down to run off and play. Haha she got played by  a baby.

we had to take alexis to the ent this week. she had one of her tubes out and one in her last doctor wanted to take the tubes out at the 2 year vmark. this doctor doesnt want to. alexis has a lot of fluid in her ear and the doctor suspects that removing the tube on the other side would cause that ear to collect fluid also. she perscribed a nasal spray for allergies. i am aways cautious when giving meds like this but her chronic runny nose is gone after only 3 days on the meds. the doctor is hoping this helps with the fluid and combined it with an antibiotic. she then did a blood draw to test her to see what she is allergic to. i really dont know how parents who have really sick kids handle seeing them poked and pin cushioned. it was the sadest thing to see alexis so stressed out and upset. she cried all the way home from enumclaw which is about a 30 minute drive. we find out in 2 weeks what this kid is allergic to and then can hopefully aviod it or at least treat her so that she feels better. oh the joys of children. next up is megan to the ent for her ears...that part daddy is going to help with since he had the samething.

Alexis and I were driving to a wedding reception last night and had to stop at the store for the gift.  I asked her what she thought we should get them and she said "we should get them baby clothes because they are going to have a baby now!"  I laughed, knowing the Mom of the bride I almost got a baby item to throw as a joke.  In the end I took the higher road and just did a cookie making kit.  I had seen a gift from another friend, super cute she had this chest that she put about 6 games in, so we bought cookie cutters, bowls and wooden spoon, baking pan, cookie mix and frosting so they can have a fun little night with some friends or by themselves.  I love gifts that give the newlyweds something fun to do outside of the bedroom! 

I am sure that Alexis has felt a little neglected over the last few days.  Megan has RSV and has taken a good amount of my time and energy.  I might be caught up on sleep finally.  Megan fell asleep at 9:15 this morning and I have always prided myself on not being wasteful so I laid down with her.  We woke up at 12!  We must have needed it.  Anyways, last night during our flawless bedtime routine Alexis was being a little stubborn on getting in bed and was being sassy.  I sat down to read her story and she made a snotty comment and I gave her a chance to change her tone and answer.  She then poured the naughty on a little more.  Well she lost her story, which caused tears to flow.  I being the kind mom that I am explained how when she acts like that she looses privileges and story time is a privilege.  When I asked her to pray she first asked that I wouldn't be mean to her.  I prompted her with "Bless me to say kind words to others." She pause for a second and said "Bless my mom to not talk during the prayer." I was a bit taken back but not so much that I wasn't able to check my laughter and have her say the prayer again the right way.  Goodness she is a wild one.  Tonight she is torturing her sister with picking her up and when Megan tries to bite her she hisses at her like a cat.  I will survive and hopefully these children will not be to damaged mentally when they enter adulthood with a crazy mom.

I am sitting here with a feverish baby who is shoving raisins and crackers in my mouth, not gently I might add.  I have been thinking a lot about the last 7 months with Britt gone working in Alaska and how grateful I am for the trails that come our way.  I would never in a million thoughts had imagined how our year was going to go last year.  We had a great paying job, pretty good insurance and were not preparing as we had been counseled for years.  I look back and think about how foolish we were and the Primary song has a renewed meaning.  I guess I always thought it didn't apply to me.  The Lord has ways to help us learn and grow and we needed it.  I can't say how things are going to go for the rest of this year.  We have chosen to put our family being together first and so Britt is coming home in a week unemployed again.  I am oddly not nearly as stressed or worried as I was in July 2011.  I think because we were so caught up in making the same amount of money that we couldn't see the reality of what life could be like.  Now we just want to be together.  We have had some very frustrating experiences and very tense moments when it felt like it was too hard to keep trying.  We have come so far in seeing how our marriage was lacking and our spirituality was less then bright.  I love my husband and am so anxious for him to come home that I wish he would just hop on the next plane and be here already.  I am ready to face our next chapter head on holding hands with my husband.  I have 2 great kids who fight and scream, laugh and cry, hug and kiss, and make me so happy and so frustrated that I want to laugh and cry(at the same time too).  Today Alexis whispered in Megan's ear and Megan whispered back.  It was so sweet and perfect.  Life is good, even if it is the golden platter we envision it to be.

Family Goal

Last night for FHE we had a lesson on how the disciples were blessed because they followed Jesus Christ.  At the end I asked Alexis if we could change one thing that we do that would bless us.  She replied that we could take a treat to everyone in our church(I clarified with her that she meant ward, because the whole church would be near impossible).  I thought about it and decided since the next day was Valentine's Day that it would be fun to take a treat to some people.  So we decided the families and this morning I baked a ton of mini cupcakes and brownies.  After School we loaded up in the car and started delivering them.  Alexis giggled after every delivery.  It was the sweetest thing to see my daughter give to others without once asking if she could have one or complaining how many more houses.  She was sad when I called it quits at 8pm.  So our goal for the year is to "Treat Our Whole Ward."  Did I mention our ward averages over 300 every week for sacrament.  We have the biggest ward I have ever been in.  It is going to be fun and a little nutty.  I am excited to make these memories with my girls and to make giving a part of who they are.   I already have some fun ideas such as for Easter we can "egg people" with candy filled eggs!  We may even ding dong ditch some people.  I did put a limit, we are not doing this everyday, HA that is what she wanted.