Our New Piano!

Tall Boy consented and I got a piano! I have been wanting one for awhile now, and Super Boy recently told me that he wants to learn how to play the piano. So I found an electric piano for a great price! The best part is that it never has to be tuned, you can plug in headphones so you don't bother anyone while playing, and it is WAY lighter than a traditional piano. It is beautiful! So here are a couple of pictures...
Also, today is Super Boy's last day of school. He is excited for the summer, but sad that there is no school. He tested for the Accelerated program and was put on the waiting list, but we recently found out that enough people declined that he has a spot in the program for 3rd and 4th grade! He was very excited because according to him "I only learned 1 new thing in school!" His class recently performed "A year in review" it was a great program with a lot of fun songs and little narrations by the kids.
Super Boy's grade also had a walk-a-thon last week. He did great! They did it at a local park and the kids had 45 minutes to walk, jog, or run. Super Boy Ran most of the time, walking only about 1/4 of each lap. I'm not sure exactly how long the route was, but he did 9 laps! That's 5 minutes per lap! Here he is at the end with his punch card...
The kids all had sack lunches and Super Girl and I stayed for a little picnic with Super Boy...It was great fun!
Now we just have a long summer to look forward to! We are excited to be in our new neighborhood where there are tons of kids. I think this might be the best summer ever! Kids roaming wild and free from house to house! We also have a trip to Cali in July to look forward to. We might even send the kids to Gma and Gpa K for a couple of weeks of freedom! I'll try to keep this blog updated, but we just might be having too much fun for me to stop long enough to update!

Potty Training COMPLETE!!! And my new guilty pleasure...

Yes that is right! Super Girl has been accident free for a week, and she shows no signs of ever going back to being a "baby with a diaper"! She has officially earned her potty elephant today!
In other news, I just discovered an awesome recipe that I had to share! I used to participate in a recipe blog, but I've decided just to include them here. There'll be a new label "Recipe" that you can click to see all my posts with recipes in them from now on!

The recipe I've discovered is kinda weird sounding, but delicious! The recipe is...

MICROWAVE POTATO CHIPS

I know what you are thinking...ewww...right? I thought the same thing, but thought, "why not give it a try?" I tried them and now I'm hooked! This is a very economical way to get your chip fix, and healthier too I think! Here are the instructions:

1 potato or sweet potato
parchment paper (or microwave safe glass plate)
cooking spray

Slice your potato using a thin slicer (you can even do it with a vegetable peeler) I use my salad shooter. Lay the potatoes in a single layer on the parchment paper. Spray with a light coating of cooking spray. Turn each slice over and spray again. Make sure none of the slices are sticking together, and put the potatoes in the microwave.
Microwave on high for about 5 minutes (mine are usually done after about 3-4) You should take the potatoes out immediately after they start to brown. They can burn easily and stink really bad when they burn (personal experience). Slide them off the parchment paper on to a cool plate or bowl and enjoy! I don't think they need any salt, but you can sprinkle a bit on right after they come out of the microwave if you want. I LOVE the sweet potato ones...mmmmmm... no dip or salt needed, just lucious! The following picture is the potato ones, they were slightly under-crisp, but still delicious!

Here's the sweet potato ones (and a few potato ones) they got slightly over done, but weren't burnt yet, and they were still delicious!

Mother's Day, Super Girl, Tim and Minute to win it fun...

Mother's day was great! The kids gave me some yummy treats and 2 fun games. At church the Primary kids sang 3 beautiful songs, and the Relief Society gave us yummy chocolates and a beautiful quote I have always loved...

"Each of you should be grateful to be a woman!...To be a righteous woman is a glorious thing in any age. To be a righteous woman during the winding up scenes on earth, before the second coming of our Savior is an especially noble calling." ~Spencer W. Kimball

I got to lounge in bed most of the morning before church, then after church we had Tall Boy's parents over for pulled pork...YUMMY. Then we had cobbler for dessert...extra YUMMY! It was a great day!

As of today, Super Girl is 6 days clean and sober...um I mean DRY!!! She is doing great! She is over half way to her elephant.

In other news we FINALLY found TIM (Super Girl's beloved stuffed bunny)! Tim was stuck, wedged behind Super Boy's linen box in his closet! Tim was about 1 inch thick when we pulled her out, but she has been fluffed back up to almost normal size. No more sad Super Girl at bedtime!

The kids are in love with the show Minute to win it. They are constantly asking to try all the games. I recently found pedometers at the dollar store so I bought 4. The kids love playing "Bobble Head" and "Nervous Nellie". So I took some video of them doing the games...






Such cute and silly kids! I'm a lucky woman!

Potty success!

Yesterday was the 1st accident free day for Super Girl! She has been wearing only panties for a couple of days now, and yesterday she went potty on her own THE WHOLE DAY! I only told her to go potty right before bed, the rest were all on her own! WOOOOOOHOOOO! Hope it continues! She's up to 15 out of 50 stickers needed for her cute elephant....keep it up Super Girl!

Corrections, Baptism, Scouts, and other updates...

I just figured out something about the potty dresses. The dollar amount I gave was wrong. I realized yesterday that I just added up all the ribbon and fabric from my receipt, and that included the ribbon and fabric for the bike trailer! I spent about $8 total on the bike trailer, so that leaves about $25 for 12 dresses. So it really boils down to about $2.10 for each dress! Potty training has been going well, had a couple of accidents yesterday, but improving! Super Girl told me after the fact that she went poop in the potty! Sure enough, I checked and she did! Luckily she was in a potty dress at the time so she didn't get poop on any undies from not wiping her bum....ewwwwwwww!!! Anyway, PROGRESS!!!

I finally got around to downloading the pics off my phone and getting the baptism photos from Hot Mama, so here it is!

Super Boy Turned 8 in the beginning of April. He had known about Scouts for about a month prior to that and we worked on all the requirements we were allowed to work on before his birthday. He is so gung ho about anything Scouts! So 2 weeks after his birthday was the 1st pack meeting he got to attend. He received 3 awards!!! There is a program this year called BSA 100 because it is the Boy Scouts of America's 100th Anniversary. So there are special ribbons the boys can earn and Super Boy earned 2! He earned the Outdoors ribbon for planning and doing an outdoor activity (a  hike) for our family (that fulfilled 2 requirements), and while we were on the hike he identified animals and plants that were present in our neighborhood and told whether or not he thought they were there before the houses were built. The next ribbon he earned was the Community Service ribbon for cleaning up a public area (school balls over construction fence), planning and participating in a community service project (shoveling 4" of very wet and heavy snow for our whole side of our street) and for talking about people who serve the community and what they do (he mentioned me and the bishop! Talk about awesome company!) At the pack meeting, Super Boy also earned his first rank, Bobcat. He was so excited! I was too! He gave me the parents pin for helping him with his projects. i had forgotten about the pin, so it was super special. I was so proud of him for wanting to do Scouts and for being so persistent, I felt he earned it all on his own. It made me a little teary-eyed when he said, "Thanks mom, you are the best mom ever!" and gave me a hug. We don't have any pictures of the pack meeting, but he was kind enough to pose for me after...pardon the crappy phone picture quality...

So let me tell you a little more about this amazing kid known as SUPER BOY for obvious reasons!!! He is so smart and wants to grow up WAY TOO FAST!!! After he turned 8 he asked me, "Mom, can I cut my own hair? Will you teach me?" So I agreed and this was the result...

He wanted to do it longer that I usually do it, so we put on the longest guide and he went to town. A few days later we did it again, the normal length, so he looked super sharp for his baptism!

There is nothing in the world that can prepare you for the emotions and feelings you get when your oldest child makes the decision to be baptized. I still remember my baptism day very clearly, especially the feeling I had. So that made me think of how he will remember most of his life from now on...SCARY!!! All the moments I need to be the mean mom, he's going to remember! Through a series of unfortunate events, we lost the images of right before the baptism, with Tall Boy and Super Boy in their white clothes. But we still have the after photos! We were so happy so many people could join us and support Super Boy on this special day!

Here's everyone who was there...

Our newest family photo...

There are tons more pictures of the party that followed, but that will need to wait until next time...

My latest projects...

Along with the potty dresses, I had another sewing project last week. We have this old bike trailer/stroller that has been neglected over the years, and the fabric cover was thrashed. So I made a pattern as best as I could from the scraps that were left and made a whole new cover!

The old cover (what was left of it)

The patterns I made (side net, side fabric, front fabric, front net, side velcro etc)

The finished product (side view)

Back view

Isn't it spiffy!?!

I also have my very own laptop now that is small but has an awesome battery life! Tall Boy told me I could "put whatever viruses I want" on it! That's his way of saying games and programs. The only program I've downloaded so far is for the Family Search Indexing. I know Dad, you are so proud...I've caught the bug! For those who may not be familiar, it is a program where you download images of census documents or other similar documents from around the world, and you type what you see in each field. I have been doing WWII draft records from Texas. It is amazing to see how many people have the same names!!! I have been typing away for a couple of days now and have set a pretty lofty goal of 36,500 names indexed in 1 year...about 100 a day...I already have over 1000 done in just the past 2 days! Just 35,500 more to go! Wish me luck!

In other news, Super Girl has been doing well with potty training. She has a chart with places for stickers up to the number 50. She gets a sticker each time she goes on the potty with a clean diaper/panties. When she reaches 50, she gets her cute elephant! She's already up to 10 and we've only been doing it for a few days...here's hoping!

And last tonight is the return of the weight loss tracker. I recently started walking with Hot Mama and another friend about a month ago. So far I have lost 5 pounds in 4 weeks! I haven't been walking lately, but I'm still exercising at home most times. So root for me, I'm shooting for about a pound per week...slow and steady wins the race!

Pillowcase dresses and potty training...

My good Friend Hot Mama recently introduced me to pillowcase dresses (sorry mom if you have told me about them before, I didn't get it) I have been struggling with Super Girl to conquer the potty business. So my lovely mom made her a reward, a super cute purple & pink elephant puppet!
 

This has gotten her motivated, but has produced minimal results. So today, I was finishing up a bunch of dresses that I made out of left over fabric and some remnants I bought...and suddenly it hit me...these are POTTY DRESSES! Super Girl wears only the dress, no undies, no diaper! I have been waiting for warmer weather to do the naked butt potty training technique, but I can't wait anymore! So this morning when she had a dirty diaper, we were miraculously out of diapers! So the potty dress was initiated! Super Girl was SO MAD!!! She whined and cried for 1-2 hours, then suddenly stopped and told me, "I think I'm starting to do toots!" So we rushed into the bathroom and.....ta da!!! Poop and Pee in the potty! YAY!!! So here's the breakdown:

Fabric and ribbon for 11 potty dresses and 1 dress for me = $33.25 (that's about $2.77 per dress!)
Getting the most stubborn of children to pee and poop in the potty = PRICELESS!!!
Here are photos of the mass production that's been happening here for 3 days! I made my dress and 1 potty dress on monday. Then I made 7 potty dresses yesterday. And today I finished up with a respectable 3 more dresses! Enjoy!

All 11 potty dresses lined up in a row

My dress (the bottom half atleast!)

The 8 potty dresses made on days 1 and 2...

 

The 3 dresses I made today...

Super Boy's murals & birdhouse, and Super Girl's Easter Dress

Super Boy had a fun painting day yesterday. Ever since we moved in, I have been promising him he could do 2 murals on the white walls in his room. Yesterday I finally came through on that promise! He had the ideas of what he wanted to do for about 3 years now, so here are the pics!

This is his Football Mural: Colts vs Tigers, Colts ahead 99 to 0 with 3 min left in the 3rd quarter. They have just run a play to give them another touchdown. Super Boy is in the stands all the way on the left, holding a sign that says "Colts always win!" The black dotted line is the path the ball took on the play, and the black solid lines are the routs the players ran on that play. All of this he dictated to me 3 years ago, he stuck to his original plan! I only helped with the areas he couldn't reach, but the rest is all Super Boy's talent!

This is his Landscape mural. He has wanted this since we moved in to our last house 4 1/2 years ago! I kept trying to figure out a less-permanent way to get it done, and finally I gave in and let him use real craft paint! Hope he doesn't get sick of these murals any time soon! I do not want to start painting walls again!

The hand print is his signature on his artwork! He put his name and the date in black in the center of his red hand print.

Super Boy recently started Cub Scouts and has been begging me to put together a birdhouse since he read it in his book! So I finally gave in and we bought this kit. It is all glued, so it is still not finished, we had to wait for the glue to dry to add the embellishments.  The blue pieces go as trim on the roof and as decoration over the door in the yellow wall. The red are little perches that go outside the doors to help the birds get in. More pictures will come once it is finished. He painted everything himself (and even let his sister help a bit) I just cleaned up drippy spots and held while glue dried!

Now on to Super Girl. I made her Easter Dress again this year. I'm really trying to keep up the tradition my mom started when I was little. So this year I made this one...There are a few boo boos, but she really likes it! I also made a matching shirt and skirt for her favorite bunny "Tim" who wore her dress at the same time, so the matched and were super cute! Tim has since gone missing...maybe in protest to the outfit??? Anyone with information on the whereabouts of "Tim" the girl bunny please contact me! Super Girl is so sad anytime she thinks about "Tim" which is about once a day.

DRESS AND PURSE

UP CLOSE ON DRESS TOP

UP CLOSE ON PURSE

I will probably have another post for you tomorrow with Super Boy's first pack meeting and receiving his Bobcat. I might also post whatever other pictures I find on my phone (our camera was having issues, so I finally broke down and bought a new one. The pictures from today's blog were taken on the new camera. I have yet to download all the pics from the few months we were without a camera and left to use crappy cell phone cameras...)

Adieu until tomorrow....

I love the rain!

I am sitting here at the computer, working on some stuff for scouts...then I hear the rumble of thinder and all I want to do is go sit out on my porch and listen and smell...I have always loved the rain, but I haven't seen or heard it in so long, it was a nice reminder! So now I am pacifying my need to waste my day by leaving a window open and walking by it every now and then...life must move on...

In other news, we got Super Boy's test results back from the Accelerated program. He scored high enough to qualify for the program, but is on the alternate list. We will know in the summertime whether or not a spot opens up for him. He told me he is happy either way. He said he likes learning new stuff, but is happy to know everything already too! What an amazing kid! I hope he gets a spot, just because his mind needs stretching!

Ahhh...the sky just opened up with a downpour of rain... I must go watch for a minute...

Finally another update!

Sorry I've been away so long...life happens!

I have new pictures of the kiddos to share!

 Super Boy is loving his new 2nd grade class at his new school. He has tested for the accelerated program in this new district and we should be finding out soon how he did. He also had an awesome school performance a few weeks ago where the whole school honored people/ideas of the past that helped shape the future. Each grade had a different person/thing. Super Boy sang about Christopher Columbus discovering America. The whole school sang about believing in yourself and reaching for your highest potential. It was really great and fun too! Super Boy also had a very important birthday...he turned 8! He made the decision to get baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also started Cub scouts and has already earned his Bobcat rank and 2 achievement ribbons! My parents came to visit for a week to celebrate his birthday and attend his baptism. It was so good to see them! I miss them already!

Super Girl is as active as ever and growing like a weed! She is pictured here with her favorite friend "Tim" the girl bunny! Tim was a gift from the Fab 5 for Christmas, and she hasn't put her down since! Super Girl has been struggling with potty training and attitude growing pains. Hopefully she'll get back in the program and get potty trained before she turns 4 in September! My mom even has made her a special surprise that she only gets when she is potty trained...I hope it works! She seems excited about it, so here's hoping!

We absolutely love our new home, but I miss Tall Boy's mom sometimes. She is such a wonderful woman, so helpful and caring. I miss her conversations and guidance. But we are adapting to life on our own and really enjoying it.

Tall Boy and I have new callings in our ward. We both teach the 9 year old class in primary, and I have a 2nd calling of Webelos Den Leader Assistant. I love working with these young men who are curious and want to learn. What a fun bunch!

Tall Boy is still secure at his job, though there were some cutbacks and layoffs, we were spared. We are so grateful for his job and for the love and respect his company shows all of us.

I am still at home with the kids, but am looking forward to going back to school soon. I hope to get a degree in Elementary education, but that probably won't be for another 5 years! Oh well, like I said before...LIFE HAPPENS!

Hope all of our friends and family are well! Love you all!

Super Girl's New Do!

Super Girl and I have been fighting with major tangles for about 6 months now. Super Girl hated having her hair brushed and combed, and would rarely let me do anything with it. So today, after much deliberation, I finally took the plunge and cut her hair!

I gave her a bath and used shampoo and conditioner. Then I combed out her hair until I hit the major tangles.


Then I cut just above the highest tangle
and cut the rest to match!


Before
and After

After all was said and done, this is how much hair (tangles) we removed today!