We are in for it!

We just moved so I am at the public library because I am truly addicted to the computer.  I will post more on the move later, but a story about Kendall...

We are in serious trouble (Kevin and I).  Friday I picked her up from school and she informed me that she had two boyfriends - Joey and Emilio.  Perfect, only two weeks after telling me she was chasing boys.  UGH. 

Then last night at walmart I was picking up a couple of shelves.  The nice looking 18 year old boy was helping me out to the car.  He was trailing behind us in another cart with the shelves.  Picture this.  Kendall is sitting in the basket of the cart, peeking around me with the biggest grin she could manage.  Her eyes were wide and she was literally batting her eyelashes.  At one point, I turned around to see how the boy was responding.  He was laughing his tail off!  I said, "I really hope this is not a sign of times to come!".  UGH - again!

Frankenstein - Really!

That is me.  Yes, this Tuesday I had two screws put into my head (well my mouth to be exact).  I literally watched the orthodontist take a screw and a screwdriver and put two screws into my skull.  I am having invisalign done on my teeth.  I feel the need to state that it is not for cosmetic reasons, but the cosmetic results will be a bonus!  Part of the process is to use screws and rubber bands to literally pull my teeth up into my jaw.  Naturally, this will happen over the next 18 months.  So far, it has been VERY painful. 

It was kind of a funny story though...I am not much of a prankster, but I think the anesthetic got to me (good excuse anyways).  The orthodontist came to check if I was numb.  The moment he poked me with the metal pick to ensure I was numb, I began screaming.  Yes, I did.  I am not sure what possessed me.  Of course I could not really feel a thing.  He jerked back in terror.  After a moment I was able to calm him down and convince him that I was completely kidding.  He informed me that no one had ever done that to him before and that his heart was racing 100 miles per hour.  I told him that it was okay because I had never actually done anything like that before.  After we got all of that straight, he proceeded to drive the screws into my head.  In hindsight that was probably not the smartest thing to do, but it sure was funny!

A Look Back...

This post may be boring and mundane for most, but it is meant for the girls.  I want them to be able to look back at their first home.  They may not remember too much about it, so these pictures are for them.  Kevin and I have been married for quite some time.  We had several apartments in college before buying our first home.  I still remember the day that we got the keys to the home.  Kevin was still in California finishing up school.  I remember running through every room feeling like a little kid at Christmas.  I thought there was no way we would ever fill this house up.  It did not take us very long to do so.

We started first with our golden retriever Cooper then followed up a year later with our chocolate lab Coco.  We got Cooper as a puppy from a breeder.  The following year we took Cooper with us to the humane society to pick out Coco.  We were very glad that we took Cooper because the first dog we had picked out did not mesh well at all.  Then we brought out Coco.  It was love at first sight.  They have not left each others side since that day with the exception of one trip where Kevin took Coco on a solo trip.  The day he brought Coco home the dogs nearly ran us over trying to get to each other.

We certainly experimented with color in this home.  I remember the day after we painted the sitting room, Kevin kept thinking it looked like an office building.  It took awhile for him to get used to this one.

When we first moved in, the counter tops were white AND the cabinets were white.  That is way too much white.  We put in gorgeous "Norwegian Blue Pearl" granite counter tops.  The name was a tribute to the Ludefisk and potato sausage we are "privileged" to eat every year at Christmas.  (That was for you Terrell:)). 

 I do believe that every door knob and light fixture has been changed in this house...

We are very lucky to have a mother who does window treatments in our family.  My mom helped me design this one.  She did an incredible job helping us outfit our windows.  I am looking forward to seeing what we end up doing in our next house.  Mom already has her books packed to bring down for the holidays.  We will be busy dreaming up new ideas.

This powder room was one of our weekend projects (before kids of course).  I really wish that we had some before and after pictures of this one.  It was another white room with a huge vanity and plain mirror.  We had a lot of fun doing this.  Kevin even ripped out the flooring and put in wood flooring.  Very nice job!

The master bedroom.  These draperies are definitely coming with us.  I thought for a moment that I could leave them, but my sentimental side won the battle.  My mom made these for us last Christmas with pillows to match.  I was not ready to part with them!

This bathroom was our latest mini-project.  It was amazing what a few cans of paint was able to do.

The girls bathroom was a lot of fun to do.  We went with a frog theme.  They have already decided that their next bathroom will be pink and purple (surprised?).

I will NEVER forget decorating this room.  We were SO excited to welcome our first baby - a little girl - into our family.  Grandma Terrell and Grandma Karen were down for Thanksgiving that year and we did a lot of shopping in preparation for the arrival of Baby Kendall.  It was Mushrooms and Snails for Kendall.

Not even one year later came the news that Baby Sidney was on the way.  We decided on flowers and Ladybugs for Sidney.  It was so much fun to come up with a theme for each of the girls. 

Then there is the man cave.  Yes, Kevin is spoiled.  It has already been decided that he will have another man cave in our new house.  I must admit, I really like the man cave.  It gives him a place to do his own thing!

 We are DEFINITELY going to miss our beautiful deck and hot tub.  My dad came down for Easter one year and helped Kevin put the cover and railing on our deck.  They worked non-stop through the rain.  It was so beautiful when they were finished.

We have had a love-hate relationship with our yard.  For two people that had no clue what we were doing, things turned out pretty good in the end.  Now we get to start over.  Our new house is a blank slate.  There is a lawn and two trees.  The possibilities are endless.  Our downfall is that we will want to do it all "right away".  If we have learned one thing, it is that yard work takes time.  It does not happen overnight or in a weekend.  It will be interesting to see what we settle on.

We are really going to miss this house.  We are excited about the idea of moving on, but we will definitely miss our first family home.  If you would have asked us a few months ago we would have never dreamed that we would be spending September packing up boxes getting ready to move.  Now here we are just a short time away from moving into our new home.  Crazy! 

A Step in the OPPOSITE Direction and Boys Already?

First I will talk about little Sidney.  She has always been Miss Mellow, yet lately we have had the most difficult time with her.  Part of this is very good, since it is important that she test her boundaries.  The other part is pure frustration.  For one, she has recently started throwing full-on tantrums.  We have experienced two of these occurrences in the middle of stores recently.  I have had to swoop her up and swiftly head for the exit.  GRR!  Then there is the potty training.  YES, potty training.  As some of you may know, we thought we were past this point.  Last June, she was done with diapers.  She wore big girl panties.  We went on 9 hour car trips in which she held it until the next stop and had no accidents.  So, toward the end of July we were frustrated, irritated and 'ashamed to say' ANGRY when she would just smile at us and poop her pants.  What does a parent do?  We tried positive rewards, we tried negative consequences, we tried every trick in the book.  So back to pull-ups she went.  Kevin and I were getting more annoyed by the day.  We would not allow her to swim (even with a swim diaper) for obvious reasons.  She always seems to think that the swim diaper is the most convenient place to go to the bathroom.  We took her cartoon privileges away.  We even took Emma away at one point (though this was against my better judgement and she immediately got her little comfort doll back).  Last night I even put a call in to her dance teacher to take her out of dance class.  Kevin and I could not even consider continuing to reward such bad behavior. 

Well, today I had a long talk with a very wise woman.  She listened intently as I vented my frustration.  Then she stopped me and asked me, "Heather when did you start talking about buying a new home and putting yours up for sale?"  I replied, "The end of July."  She asked a second question, "When did you say Sidney started all of this bad behavior?".  I thought, "Ummm...the end of July."  Then this wise woman went on to explain a few things about children.  By the end of our talk it was all becoming very clear.  Sidney needed our attention.  Granted we give our kids a lot of attention, but right now she needs extra attention.  She does not need to be punished for something that she is not likely doing on purpose (though I was believing that she was).  She needs extra hugs and extra love - possibly even coddled a bit during this tricky time.  This should have all been clear to me after our rough night last evening.  After lecturing our three year old on the trials of life, she woke up in the middle of the night crying for mommy to hold her.  We are not by any stretch bad parents, in fact we are great parents.  However, we really missed this one!  After this revelation, I called Kevin and told him about the conversation.  We agreed to listen to the suggestions.  I sat Sidney down tonight and told her that we were going back to the basics.  We gave her privileges back (except for swimming of course; that is one rule that will have to remain).  We filled the m&m jar back up and told her we would work together and help in reminding her to go the bathroom.  About 10 minutes later, what did she do?  You guessed it, she earned her first m&m again.  She has been grinning ear to ear all night.  The dance teacher must have thought I lost my marbles when I called to re-enroll Sidney in dance class the day after taking her out.  Oh well, I suspect this will not be my last parenting blunder.  It certainly has not been my first.

As for my other child...she is going to give her daddy some more gray hairs (is this possible?).  Last night on the way home from school she squeals with delight that she tried to kiss boys today.  WHAT?  Yes, her and Leah.  I asked her what would possess her to do such a thing, she said because it was funny to see the boys run.  I had to laugh at this simple answer.  What innately causes little girls to chase boys and little boys to run?  Hilarious!  Kevin, on the other hand, did not think the story was so funny.  He gave her a stern talking to.  At one point she looked over at me with great concern.  I reassured her that daddy was just teasing "For Now!".

Is that Pig?

If you have a weak stomach you may not want to read this post.  The bottom line is that I have food issues.  I do not eat meat on the bone.  When I make soup, I use bouillon cubes.  When Kevin hunts, he brings it to me wrapped up nice and neat, boneless, skinless, etc.  I love eggs, but only if I do not think about what they really are.  I gave up eating chicken for several years once, because I thought about what I was "actually" eating.  I LOVE FOOD, but do not want to consider the source.  I like to live in denial.  It works for me.  Until Now.  Now I have two very curious little girls that like to associate things.  The other day when I was slicing up some honey ham for a quiche, Kendall came running into the room.  "Is that pig?"  She asked this with great excitement as she went to get her stool.  "I LOOOVVVVEEE Pig.", she exclaims.  Then she climbs up and asks if she can have some.  Of course Sidney comes running in to investigate.  She too seems to LOVE pig.  After about 10 minutes of this talk, I had to stop and tell them.  "Yes girls, it is pig.  However, can we please refer to it as ham?"  Somehow that makes me feel much better.

Yesterday we went to church and they had a kids carnival after service.  The carnival was complete with jump houses, popcorn and cotton candy.  The girls had never tried cotton candy before.  Sidney was not a big fan.  It was a bit weird for her.  Every time she would take a bite she would gag and try to wipe it off her tongue.  Needless to say, she did not end up finishing the cotton candy.

We spent our weekend packing up the house.  We found a house that we really loved and it closes in less than 3 weeks.  For those that have followed this story, it is not the first house that we originally started this whold thing over.  This is a house that we found last weekend and fell in love with it.  The girls have been doing very well with the idea of moving.  We promised Kendall that she could have a garden in the first house that we saw.  So when we found this other house that we ended up buying, she was not super crazy about it.  Finally I asked her what she did not like about it, she replied "I like the first one because I will have a garden."  No worries little one, there is room for a garden at this one too.  She is a crazy little gardener.  She loves to pull weeds, and tells me often when I need to water.  It will be fun to see how her garden does, because we are letting her take full reign of it.  As we talk about the move, the girls ask a ton of questions relating to what we will be taking and what we will leave behind.  Will we take the beds, the pictures, Cooper and Coco, etc.?  (Trust me there are many days when I would love to say we are leaving Cooper and Coco behind.  Those crazy dogs!).  So yesterday as we were driving, they were asking more of these questions.  As they were describing the sitting room in our current house, they referred to it as the "time-out" room.  I found this humorous.  I had never really thought of it that way.  Imagine that, we have an entire room dedicated to time-outs.

We're Back!

I have written about 50 posts in my head but have not sat down to type them.  I have started to miss the blog, but the longer I procrastinated the harder it was to start up (sounds like exercise).  This blog has become a way for me to express myself and appreciate things, both good and bad.  It has also forced me to take more pictures.  So in my slacker hood, I have not taken one picture during the month of September and it is already the 17th.  I will post a few of the goofy favorites from the end of August instead.

The girls and Kevin are both back in school.  Kevin has been as busy as ever with football and all of the other things that Athletic Directors do in the fall.  Last night was a tough one for him as BSU was playing at the same time the High School football game was going on.  His loyalty to Vallivue won out and he went the the High School game, only to stay up until the wee hours of the morning watching the BSU game later that night. 

The girls each moved up a class in their preschool.  Let me tell you, they think they are hot stuff now.  Sidney is now one of the big 3 year olds.  She has already taken her first field trip on the school bus and was super excited to tell us about it.  She is learning zoo phonics and has been coming home with a new song each week.  She is a sponge this year! 

Kendall's summer started with a field trip to the fire house where they gave her a fire hat and had the opportunity to sit in the fire truck.  Her class this year is set up much like kindergarten with a lot of school structure in the morning and free play in the afternoons.  In fact several of her friends are in kindergarten this year and she cannot wait until it is her turn.  She is already asking if she will be in the morning class or afternoon.  She gets to eat breakfast with the "school age" kids each morning and thinks that is pretty awesome.

There has been a lot of excitement on the real estate home front, but since I am semi-superstitious I think I will save those details until things are done (or close to it at least)....

I will close for now with a picture of Sidney trying to hide her "letter" from me.  She is a stinker these days!  I think she takes after Kevin:)

Happy #3 Sidney!

This has certainly been a birthday "month" for Sidney, but here we are at last.  The big day has arrived.  Today my baby turns three.  Crazy how fast the time has gone by.  When the girls were visiting Grandma Karen and Papa Mark, they threw her a big birthday bash complete with pinata and party favors.  The girls had both received new nightgowns with princess wands.  They insisted that they wear them to the party.  Sidney started the party off with a little bit of break dancing.  Where she has learned this I will never understand.  Is it possible that she could have learned it from Wilson at our annual work Christmas party? 

The prize gift came from Aunt Stephie.  It was a doctors kit.  As soon as she opened it, she was not interested in anything else.  She had played with one of these at Audrey's house last year during the Superbowl party and loved it.  Her and Kendall immediately gave her new dolly an exam. 

Dylan did an awesome job of making the pinata a challenge for everyone.  Sid again did her tough talk and claimed for weeks before the party that she was going to "break that pinata wide open".  She was going to "hit it really hard".  As it turned out, she took one swing and was done.

Hallie did the honors of giving the pinata the final smash.  Of course, gram made certain that there was plenty of chocolate to go around!

Great Grandma Juanita made it to the party.  She bought Sidney an ice cream cake to celebrate the occasion.  Sid relished every moment!

Today we had a nice quiet birthday with the family.  It started out by Sidney picking each meal for her special day.  Breakfast was purple pop-tarts.  Unfortunately Sid had a bout with the flu yesterday, so she ate about 4 bites of her beloved pop tart before calling it good.  She opened her gifts this morning.  Her prize gift at this party was a wooden fruit set that velcros together, with a wooden knife to cut it.  Momma does know best (and momma is SO humble)!

By dinner time, her stomach was feeling much better (in her own words).  She started the day off by saying that she wanted her birthday dinner, panda food, tomorrow night instead.  Panda food is what the girls call the orange chicken from Panda Express.  By 4pm, she was feeling terrific and was ready for her panda food.

She truly enjoyed being in the spotlight.  She glowed from ear to ear and several times throughout the day asked us to sing happy birthday to her.  Tonight she had chocolate turtle cake.  Tomorrow she will have one last day of celebration by taking cupcakes into school to share with her friends. 

 Happy Birthday Sidney Nicole!