Christmas Party

Seems i have not been on here as often as things have been happening around here. Christmas has come and passed. I still have Christmas pictures to download from that, however, first was our Christmas party with those friends still lingering around Laramie before heading home or wherever it may be to visit family over the holidays.

We decided that the easiest and least expensive for all of us to get together was a secret santa gift exchange among all of us...That was so much fun and we each brought a different part of the meal or drinks. And let me just add...never let Karl make you a rum and coke unless you want more rum than coke. With that, the night started with chatting, ran through dinner, over to present opening, and on to more chatting. Everybody that was there worked out to be either pregnant, or have a small child. It amazes me how much a group of friends can change in a little over 2 years.

The gift exhange was interesting, a good interesting but i have never seen so much laughter amongs everybody over present unwrapping. As expected, the kids LOVEd their gifts, however, the joy of rolling and jumping into a heap of wrapping paper scattered on the floor seemed to bring just as much happiness as the presents themselves.

If it wasn't rolling in the paper, we allowed the kids to pass out presents in order to feel involved when their luck of a gazelion presents were now unwrapped. That didn't stop them though, they took on the role of unwrapping everybody else's presents. Our little shindig involved enough people to have a kiddy table and another table (pretty much adult kiddos). Our guest list was: Karl, Amber, Gina, and KarlII, Nikki and Gary, Matt and Shebli, Gina and Geoff, and of course our family. It was loads of fun.

I think the highlight of my evening and a little girls was the look of pure excitement/joy/love/happyness, what not of a little girls first barbie. After she opened it and realized it was Barbie, Layla brought her gift to her chest, lifted her head into the air and explaimed "BARBIE!!!!" she danced around with her for a bit and finally let me open her from the box...she had her princess barbie, which now has become a local inhabitant in her crib among the other 17 friends.
Tears streamed from Matt's eyes...i would like to say they were tears of joy from the love of a child opening her first Barbie. Very sweet, however we were all laughing so hard at everything its hard to say exacily what he cried from haha!
Later in the evening, once the sugar of pie and cookies set in, we had baby races. They each throughout the evening had their eyes on a prime "horse" to ride, Aidan chose Matt, and Layla chose Karl, they races back and forth screaming and laughing, even with Barbie too. Fun Times.

I Love You Santa!

This past Friday, we took the kids to a local Credit Union, where Nikki works to see Santa. We did this last year, and although the kids would not sit on his lap last year, they still refused this year. Take that back, Aidan did climb up slowly after 25 minutes of watching other children climb up on his lap, and only a promise for a candy cane. Of course the only picture of that i have not scanned in.

The kids were fortunate to be able to see, talk with, and watch Santa for an hour. C'mon what kids get to do that? I think back to the quick 20 seconds i use to have on Santa's lap, a smile, and crawl on down for the next swarm of children. I can't help but remember the part of the Christmas Story, were Santa pushes him down the slide after saying he will "shoot his eye out" with his request for a Red Ryder BB Gun.

The kids refused to go near Santa for the first 20 minutes, even though Layla was willing to let me put Eeyore on his lap, and myself to show them it was "ok". Eventually someone came up with the idea of popcorn, and even though Kendall wasn't THRILLED to have a picture of the kids 'near' Santa on chairs with popcorn, we both agreed it's better than no picture with Santa at all right? The one we have without popcorn Layla has a big frown, and well Aidan is stealing CandyCanes out of the basket...Once the popcorn came out, Layla shared with everybody, and soon with her new friend Santa who she would be glued to, telling him everything from her "Princess Dress" she had on, to how Eeyore is her real best friend.

Still there was NO sitting on his lap.


Through our hour at the Credit Union, we realized that it was the same Santa from last year, he once was a school teacher for the local schools here, and is fasinated with Layla's speech for a 2 year old. At this point Aidan would rather be eating the 3 Candy canes he horked from Santa's basket and sit by his buddy "Bobbob" while eating them....and the plastic around them.

Having an hour, Layla became very attatched to "Her Santa Clause!" They giggled together, played telephone together, in which she called in her requests for Christmas..."dinosaurs and legos," and insuring that he knew "Santa, it's 'Ayla!" I am still amazed how patient this man was, to sit there and listen to the same 2 year old ramble on and on about whatever fascinates a two-year-old. A few times other children would come in, and she would politely back away and watch as other children would actually SIT on his lap and get a picture.

She STILL would not sit on his lap.


It was nice that someone else beyond the popcorn idea came up with the kids sitting in little chairs next to Santa. That they did willingly, very willingly for Aidan was near the basket of candy canes to grab more...and Layla got to sit there feeding Santa Clause, piece after piece of her popcorn until he finally politely declined...She still gave him more. At one point Santa took a break, a few seconds later we found Layla wandering AFTER him to the bathroom saying "Santa wait up!"

Still Aidan huddled in his corner eating his popcorn and candy canes, gaining more and more ENERGY that later would abrupt within our living room when we got home with loud screams and running like a crazy little kid. After much coaxing Layla to leave, i thought hey PERFECT opportunity "Layla why don't you sit on Santa's lap before we leave for a picture memory??"

Still she would NOT sit on his lap.

Even though they never sat on his lap, except Aidan for a short 7 seconds, they did however willingly and without coaxing gave him a goodbye hug, Layla then looked up at him during the hug and said...

"Santa, I Love You!"

How nice that a man just volunteering his time for 3 hours would look back at the little girl with a smile and a twinkle in his eye and say "Ms. Layla, Santa loves you too!"

Conversations from here and there...

At the Breakfast table:

Aidan: "Mommy, Look! Cow!" As he points to the milk carton's label.
Taking this opportunity i decide to explain a little where the milk came from.

M: "Yes, Aidan that is a cow! Cows produce milk, and through different processes we can get that milk, process it and drink it. Isn't that neat that we drink milk from cows to stay healthy and strong?"

Layla: "No Mommy! Santa makes milk and cookies!!" This coming from out conversation earlier in the week about how we will LEAVE milk and cookies out for Santa this year.

~~~~~

At the dinner table:

M: "Layla, please eat your chicken! Daddy made this great meal, and the lemon peppered chicken is special because it is Mommy's favorite!"
Layla: "Not Mommy's favorite...Penguins are Mommy's favorite!" This coming from her knowing that Penguins are my favorite ANIMAL not favorite animal to EAT. haha.

~~~~~~
Again, Breakfast Table.
Layla: "Mommy, are you happy?"
M. Yes Layla, i am very happy because i am home with you and Aidan! I miss you two when i am away!"
Aidan: "I miss mommy too!"
Layla:"Mommy, you miss Daddy?"
Aidan: "Miss Daddy!"
M: "Yes, I miss Daddy too!"
Layla: "aww, Mommy, you miss your Kendall?"
M: Giggling "Yes, Layla i miss my Kendall."
Layla: "It's ok Mommy, you miss your Kendall!"

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend was nice, a good time to get a break from school, work, and just home in general i guess. Although we had to leave a day early because i was so exhausted, i had a blast with my family!
Zach, Karen, and Mom smiling big waiting patiently to dig into their thanksgiving dinner. It was WONDERFUL! I wish i could have more right now! :) On our menu was Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Cherry pumpkin banana cream pie, and green bean casserole. Oh it was great! Layla and Aidan enjoyed the sweet potatoes the most...Since their Aunt Amber decided to call them "Candy Potatoes". haha.

Greg proudly showing off his Zelda wii game...i think that is what he is doing? Since we only meet around Thanksgiving to get the family together, we always have our Christmas that time too...We go through the secretsanta.com website in order to save money and kids are optional...it is a lot of fun trying to figure out who has you!
One thing that happened was we got my dad addicted to a WII game, ok maybe not addicted but he loved it! :) The kids were tricked to thinking they were playing too, although they had a numbchuck, and game cube remotes unplugged...sweet.
My adorable little neice Adrianna showing off her biggest smile ever in her Santa Hat.
The kids loves sitting at the bar stools together, i am really glad the girls included Aidan more this time around (he usually gets left out a bit by his girl cousins). Although in this picture you would think he doesn't care to be around them by his face haha.
Front view....Sorry i am not in a mood to write more but i have about 50 blocks piled on my lap along with two toddlers trying to play on me with them.

Responsibility

Even though Layla and Aidan are only two, they have a tremendous amount of responsibility instilled in them already. We except a lot out of them because we know they are capable in doing these things, and not only that but understanding. I remember growing up, we always had chores, i am sure it did not start at 2 years old, but hey, they are apart of the family, they create the same amount of messes, we expect them to clean up these messes. When i was young i remember hearing my moms voice across the house "Unload and load!!", this referring to the dish washer, eventually turned into "uloa n loa!" being shouted numerous times in a row. Whatever, we still did the dishes. I think chores are important for any child to learn responsibility, and even though Layla and Aidan don't have set chores they are expected to help out when we ask, and at this age, they LOVE it. They are learning so much so fast it is hard to keep them occupied with any small task.

Recently as you have read, we brought my childhood dog Smores to come live with us, now that i have a yard to keep him and no landlord to fuss over it. He is 11 years old now, but is very gentle with the kids. He has learned quickly that if he in anyway snaps at them, even if they are pestering him, he gets a small punishment (them too). We do not tolerate that. Layla is thrilled to have Smores around, Aidan is off and on, he is more into the "no barking More!" commands that we hear daily from him. Always having a dog growing up, actually i never remember having just 1 dog, it was always numerous dogs growing up. Anyway, i think a pet is a GREAT way to teach children responsibility and understanding that other living things need to be treated nicely and can live in harmony with us.
The kids have caught on quickly to having a dog around. Often times they automatically call the dogs when any sort of food is dropped on the floor during dinner, they understand that dogs are great vacuums. Another thing that i have caught them doing daily, and despite so many lectures, time outs, and other punishments, the kids STILL feed smore their crackers, their cookies, their cheerios, anything that they have as a snack that day. They call him over with their sweet little voices "Here More...here is a cheerio! Good dog! Want more More?"
One day i called Layla out in the act. I explained to her that people snacks can make dogs sick sometimes and he only can have his specail treats. She nodded her head and said quietly "ok Mommy, i understand, he get a tummy ache!" Feeling pretty confident that i FINALLY had reached her, i went back to whatever it was i was doing. A few minutes later i turn around, to see that Layla has a bag of beggin strips for dogs out and is feeding Smore one after another. AW! Atleast she had the right snack this time right?
The kids have learned how to let Smore out now and do numerous times throughout the day. Only once has one ventured out into the yard with out permission following Smore. I lock the front door so they don't try it there, but i still worry they will try it one day. The kids understand what the Dog poop looks like and love to point it out to me as i am outside cleaning it up. "Mommy over here! Here is poop Mommy!!! Get the POOP!!!! MOMMY SEE IT?!?"
Another important factor of a dog is remembering to let it in! Layla is really good about this, especially right before dinner time when he is SUPPOSED to be outside, i explain to her over and over. "Layla Smore is happy outside right now, we need to eat inside while he is outside." Today she turns to me after this statement with an extremely concerned face. "Mommy, but it is cold outside...he will be cold Mommy!" While saying this, she wraps her arms around his neck as if protecting him from the evil Mommy who wants the dog outside so her children don't feed him during dinner. Sigh.
Cleaning is something i am sure every individual feels is an never ending job. Specially with two toddlers running around, i am constantly following them around picking up, wiping down, and mopping up. The kids have picked up on the mopping and vacuuming the most. Since our kitchen lunolium shows every piece of dirt, i feel as though i am mopping daily just to stay ahead of it. Yes, swifter is nice but not on this floor. Today i found Aidan moving chairs out of the kitchen to "mop" as Layla was pushing her Charlie Stick Horse around as if his head was her mop. Both kids kept repeating to me "Get out of kitchen Mommy, were mopping, its wet! Get out now!" Whatever, they are having fun right? So i sit on the couch to watch and next thing i know Aidan is pushing a little car thing into my feet, saying "Move mommy, i am vacuum!" Sigh, has this backfired to where i can't be ANYWHERE in the house while my kids playclean?
One of the most sweetest things i enjoy with the kids is walking with them. Even though it takes twice as long to make it to the mailbox a block away to get the mail i enjoy them learning to hold hands. Not only my hand but eachothers, somedays i think Aidan would prefer to hold Layla's hand over mine, is he already embarrassed of his mom? They love to get the mail and carry it back proudly as if the mail is for them. Layla loves holding hands with everybody she loves, so when i said alright we need to hold hands, as i reach my hands out and well they grab eachothers hands and walk away from me. I cannot even be upset that they do not want to hold my hand at this moment, because they love and care for each other also that they automatically grab each others hand...very sweet, i had to snap a picture so i can think back to this moment.

It is hard to believe that the development of a child can happen so fast. In a little over two years, Layla and Aidan have learned to control their movement from crawling to walking, to running, to jumping out of control. They have learned to talk, starting with small syllables to speaking in clear sentences. Along their growth they have learned to count, recognize letters, and be able to recognize and learn new words daily. The growth is amazing, and everyday i sit there wondering what i can teach my children, I strongly believe children are underestimated of their mental abilities. They are pure geniuses. I cannot teach Layla and Aidan anything fast enough, they strive to learn, and then move on to build to larger more complex things. English isn't enough when counting to 10 now, they are now working on spanish, a path they chose on their own from educational cartoons aimed to second languages. The crafts they want to take part in, the cooking they want to help with, and the cleaning they try and do is far beyond normal expectations of a 2 year old. The realization of climbing out of cribs has triggered the "ready for toddler beds, no bars to hold us in". Slowly i have started to child proof their room, taking my time in order to enjoy them in their cribs for a few extra weeks before i will have to say farewell to this time in their lives.

In just the past year, my babies have learned to master walking, to now going to the bathroom on the toilet proudly (for a few M&Ms). Emotions are well understood and they learn new ones weekly. They understand sadness, embarrassment, hurt, anger, and frustration. Not only does this set them up to learn more emotions, it also forces me to learn new ways to educate them in channeling these emotions properly, and become caring individuals that have a heart to understand others emotions carefully. Such as the day i am frantically trying to find my car keys, and i turn to see too little tots searching right after me to help. The days i am upset and Layla walks over and pats my back saying softly "It's ok mommy! It's ok." The nights when i am leaving to work and they wrap their arms around my legs saying "Don't go to work! One more hug!" I cannot explain the amount of emotions I am feeling as a mother, watching this growth, watching their personalities bloom into their own. I hope to instill in them love, empathy, independence, and fairness. I feel as if i am doing my job the night Aidan asks for a hug, but not from me, but from Layla. Showing me he truelly cares for his sister too.
I have started a journal this past week, i feel as if i cannot get enough of what they do day to day on camera or in my memory. I only enter one or two entries a day, my most favorite or Kendalls most favorite moment of the day, from sweetness, to funnyess, to just an amazing milestone. I hope to read back on these smaller moments that are usually forgotten after a few weeks, and remember them clearly everytime. I want to be able to remember every moment in their lives, because time does go by so fast and i feel as if i never have enough time with either of them!

Mean Witch

Recently while watching cartoons, the kids are very interactive with the cartoons themselves. Many of these cartoons actually talk to the audience..aka Layla and Aidan and they love to shout out answers and responses. Of these are Blues Clues, Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Dora and Diego, and Ni hao Kai Lan. They love their cartoons, and i am pretty good in only allowing educational ones, such as the ones named above.

Recently a new Dora movie came out on TV where a witch casts a spell on the snow princess melting all the snow and so forth. Of course Dora comes to the rescue. The witch is seen throughout the movie and at one point this is what Layla turned to me and said.

Layla: "Mommy...Thats a mean bitch!"
Me: "What? Oh a mean Witch?"
Layla: "Yes Mommy, she a mean bitch!"

We have been working on her W's since and now she can say them a little better thankfully!

Another story about "bad guys" was Layla today when she woke up to us watching Forbiddin Kingdom (Jackie Chan movie so you can imagine the karate type fighting)
Layla sits there then turns and says loudly. "Mommy, that bad guy is being naughty!!"
Me: " Yep, he is a naughty bad guy isn't he?" I said while laughing
Layla then turns to Kendall: "Daddy? Daddy? Daddy?? See the bad guy being naughty too??"
At his point Aidan is jumping up and down while pointing at the tv shouting "No! No! No Hitting! Stop it!"

Halloween

I have carved my fair share of pumpkins, and even though i don't mind the gooeyness of the whole thing, it is still nice to put the kids to work pulling it all out. They loved it, Layla caught on real quick and when she would run out of goo she would turn and say "mommy, scrape more!"
Aidan on the other hand loved to play with the goo, after Kendall carved his pumpkin, he stood over the bowl and just played with it, squishing it between his fingers, lifting it up to drop it "splat" I guess it is the little things in life that are the most fun. I remember when my dad would carve pumpkins, a few years we only had one pumpkin and he actually managed to carve four different faces on each side of it for each of us kids...amazing, i almost broke mine with just the little spider on ONE side! Kendall carved Aidan's pumpkin, the biggest one he could find at the store, Layla chose a bigger one too and i carved hers. Chris helped with carving Kendalls, and by the time it got to mine i decided to just not carve it and let the kids paint it. Daring right? Two toddlers with paint and a brush to wave around!

The paint turned out to be a great idea...taking advantage of the beautiful week of weather we had during halloween (very rare occurence), i stripped the kids down to their diapers and let them each pick 1 color and ONLY one color each. They loved it, went crazy, Aidan even started to paint a toy truck that he had outside...i stopped that quickly. Most the paint seemed to get on Chris and me ironically.
After the pumpkins were done, i begged the kids for a picture in their costumes by them. They only smiled with their sunglasses on, you can see the beautiful paint job on the 4th pumpkin. The kids wore their costumes all day Saturday from 10 am till 11pm. They had a blast, in the morning we went to Kendall's work, Karen's work, and Nikki's work to visit and get candy for the kids. Later that evening my friend Haley and her little boy (he was a black and white cow ironically) went also. We stopped at really only 5 places of family and friends, then from there we would get their neighboring houses that had their lights on. The kids LOVEd it, so much that Aidan ran into, past the candy passer outer into their house. Then he would turn around and sneak candy out of their bowl...oh what will i do with this kid? He just LOVES his candy i guess!
Now why I choose to take 2 year olds out on halloween to get sugary, high fructose, cavity creater candy for them i don't know. Maybe because they had the time of their little lives, who would of thought Layla could make such a mess out of a little sugar cookie all over her face, and still melt my heart with cuteness.

Even though it took some coaxing for Aidan to like his dragon costume, he wanted to be eeyore too after it came in the mail naturally. The night is all worth it for a 2 tots to love each other so much that they are compelled to hug eachother tightly while dressed up in the other ones costume. The excitement for trick or treating overwelmed them, and even though we were out till close to 11 oclock and at one point in time Aidan held his tummy because he ate so much candy, they still stalk about it. :) Good stuff!

Pre-Halloween Trunk Or Treat

On the 24th, Layla, Aidan, and I made the trip to Amber and Gregs to take part in a trunk or treat safe treat put on by their church. Beforehand we headed to the pumpkin patch in Boulder Colorado. It was a nice time and Amber learned how to chase kids in opposite directions haha. I am so use to it that when someone is helping me or with me, they are amazed how fastly the two (three in this case with Adrianna) can take off in different directions. It has become such a part of my life that i guess i am so adapted to it, i don't notice it being such a chaotic moment.

I have learned a few tricks with having toddlers trying to be independent from not just me, but eachother. They are experiencing the feelings they can do what they want and go when they want without any warning. I guess i understand this is a time in their life where they need to explore, but i need to make fast tricks in order to get them on track to stay nearby. First off, bright shirts, unique shirts, and/or matching shirts is a big helper, it gives me a quick thing to look for among the many other children running mad through the pumpkin patch, causing their parents to pull out their hair wondering why something suposed to be "fun" can be so much work with their kids running wild along side farm animals. Heck, they are little farm animals haha. The favorite shirts I have for the two i bought from a local farmers market, two tie dyed shirts, one blue one pink. They were the only kids in tie dye and it was a quick way for me to glance to find them in the crowds.
It amazes me that the only way i can get a picture of a three year old and 2 two year olds together facing me, is only when they run into a forced dead end inside a corn maze and they are forced to turn toward me in order to find another more free running route.

With them running so incredibly fast, i found that encouragement to follow eachother, with Adrianna being the oldest and fastest, i encouraged to follow her...this increased the fun for her because, heck who doesn't want to be the leader? This was great for Layla and Aidan because they LOVE to copy older kids. I have a 1..2..3 system with the kids, and this i have worked hard to instill in them to work about 90% of the time. I am sure parents and individuals around me are driven nuts by me constantly counting to three, hey it works to get my kids back so deal!

How it works is i have taught them that when i count to three, if they are not headed back toward me, stopping what they are doing that is harmful or not appropriate on three then i am going to go over there and well, lets just say they know that if mom catches them on three it is not a fun kiss they will receive, it will be a lecture, a pat on the bum, time out, or a tight hand squeeze to get their attention back to obeying me. It all depends on the crime they made haha.

Often times i wonder where my kids come from, or their cousins...the silly crazy little things they say or do leaving me baffled...that is until i get together with my family, and realize they probably think the same when they watch my sisters, mom and i play games, or hear inside jokes that make absolutely NO sense to any sane human being but create a roar of laughter and continuous taunting from one another...Chapstick anyone?
Looking at this picture i wonder, man oh man, are Aidan and Adrianna doomed for the silliness our family has instilled in our genes? I hope so, life is better when families can joke and easily enjoy each others silly antics, wrong words, and funny behaviors.

Another important thing in keeping tabs on little tots running in directions is the simple hand holding. Layla rocks at this and almost begs for us to hold HER hand on occasions. Aidan i need to work on, he is only good when crossing streets, any other time its like "back off mom, your embarrassing me!" Is it really possible to embarrass a two year old?
I love this picture, even though Amber is laughing like a crazy lady, it shows the adorableness of a daughter holding her mommies hand, along with her younger cousin in order to remain close to the adults. Aidan of course could be anywhere at this point...ok he is near me honest!

What is better than a farmer throwing all his pumpkins in a field to fool city folk in to believing they are really "picking" their own pumpkin, or better yet fooling their kids in to thinking that pumpkin patches are the GREATEST thing in the world? Yea, nothing is!
The kids love pumpkins this year, now that they can appreciate them more. Even though we didn't purchase one this day, all three had a blast just picking them up, throwing them down, and rolling around pumpkins together. You know how hard it is to get three kids under 3 to sit down next to each other holding a pumpkin? Yea, next to impossible, moments like these, i feel Amber and I should be categorized as superheroes...women fighting to get their kids to sit still for one quick flash of a camera in order to get a picture of their kids. So what if there isn't smiles...they are sitting by each other and looking in the same direction with no one blinking! I really admire photographers of kids, they work miracles daily.

After the pumpkin patch and dinner, we headed to the trunk or treat to gain practice for halloween the following weekend. Aidan was a "dragonsaurus" and Layla was Eeyore (suprised?). I allowed the kids to pick a costume this year from three choices each, wouldn't want to overwelm them, and this is what they chose. Even though Aidan later felt he should be Eeyore too...too bad kid you picked the dragon your wearing the dragon!!
Now Halloween is supposed to be a nice time to teach your kids manners, one piece of candy now kids, say trick or treat, and thankyou afterwards. I want to instill nice manners now so when they trick or treat without me (ok i dread that day!) they will always say thankyou and not be greedy by taking too much candy from kind generous candy passer outers. As you can see here, Layla and Aidan have already gotten their candy handed to them by the very nice women, Adrianna is receiving hers and WAIT a minute? Aidan what the heck are you doing??? Get your hand out of the bucket....She already gave you candy! oh goodness my son is a candy addict little boy, i would like to say this is the only time he snuck extra candy...but no...he did it at almost every vehicle passing out candy. No matter HOW many times i told him it wasn't very nice.

After the trunk or treat the kids watched the Bee movie inside, they loved it, being one of their favorite movies watched on a weekly basis. They sat still for the most part, but only if i was stuffying pop corn or candy down their throats...oh dentists are going to love my kids!

Termination

Well, i never really thought about that part of my job as a manager here would be that i would actually have to be a part of firing someone....Without a 'real' boss at this time, the one i do fall under is laying strict policies to the callers here (i agree with him 100%) however, tonight when he took me aside and said "ok, we are terminating three people, maker sure you are here on Thursday" i completely froze. Who the heck would it be? i fumbled through the schedule and had to walk around trying to figure it out in my own mind, and i guess right on them once he did tell me who. I really don't have any personal problems with anybody here, but once we discussed things, it came down to work ethic, and work attendance (drives me nuts!). So it sounds like i am apart of this, i give the interviews to hire why not fire? Atleast i only have to lead them to my boss now and sit there nodding as he lets them go and they sign the termination papers. I am sure though afterwards they will ask me the questions since i am not as intimidating. Joys of work, but hey great for a reference!

Grandma Gail's Stuck

These past two weekends, Kendall, the kids and i have made trips to Denver, Colorado to see his family and enjoy some time there before his one brother and family have to head back to Arizona. Layla seems to have quite the imagination, and after Gail left on Friday night she really missed her, so here is a conversation i had with her out of the blue about a little 3 foot tall light house in the back yard.

Layla grabs my hand and drags me to the little lighthouse"Mommy! Mommy! Come eeer!"
Me: "ok sweetie what is it?"
Layla: Grandma Gail...Grandma Gail in dare!"
I look at Layla intently point at the lighthouse: "What? Grandma Gail went home Layla...You said byebye last night."
She looks at the lighthouse again: "No, Grandma Gail in dare. She tuck in dare!"
Me: Grandma Gail is stuck in there? In the lighthouse?"
Layla: "Yes Mommy, she tuck in there. Want her out."
Me: " Layla, Grandma Gail went home how would she have gotten in the light house?"
Layla: "Right dare..."(points to the little fake door)
Me: "She went through the door?"
Layla: Mommy...Grandma Gail tuck in dare, tuck in ligh house...door tuck!"

It went on like that for a wile, she insisting her Grandma was in there...talking to everybody nobody had told her that so it was all out of her own imagination. Again, this past weekend, a week later, she was still persistent that her Grandma Gail was in the light house.
Cousins: Aidan (2), Ashlyn (6), Layla (2), Emily (4)

Insomnia and Misinterpretations

It seems that since we have moved in to our house, i have gradually not been able to sleep well, to barely at all recently. So most mornings when the kids are wanting to get up (lately before 8:15...unusual for them), i prepare a little bed out in the living room for us all to cuddle on and watch cartoons and eat breakfast for an hour. I usually close my eyes and keep my hearing alert so i know where the kids are and that they are not breaking into the pantry for cookies or anything else they might be up to. I began to hear Aidan talking to me here is how the conversation went:
Aidan: "Mommy...pawder."
Me keeping my eyes closed: "Bucko, i just gave you water"
Aidan: "Mommy...pawder...pawder!!"
Still eyes closed "Aidan your water is on the couch where you left it go get it please, mommy is tired."
Aidan now poking at my leg "Mommy...pawder! pawder right there!"
Looking down at the blue blanket with penguins on it that i had draped over my lap i figured he thought it looked like water. "Yes Aidan, it looks like water."
Aidan: "No mommy! No! S'pawder!!!"
Looking again...AWWW! There was a SPIDER crawling up my leg...he wasn't even talking about water, he was trying to say spider!! Misinterpretation of Aidan once again, poor thing probably gets so frustrated with us! Glad he kept telling me or it would have just stayed there creeping along.
So for Aidan, here is his "hiphop" dance that i caught on video, i do not know where he learned it, but it is very cute and ONLY when hip hop or rap is on..shows that certain beats to music brings out different dances i guess! Let me add that we listen to the radio on satillite so he hasn't even seen a music video. If you can't understand what is being said you can hear Layla at the end say "Look at Aidan dancing!" and then Aidan proceeds to walk over to say "No camera!!" Guess is shy about his moves!

Go Pokes

Something we have always enjoyed, and maybe before the kids in a different "enjoyable" way...is a Cowboy football game. Since the kids were born we have brought them to a Wyoming Cowboy game, even though last year was more of "oh look people running around down there" this year it is more of a cheering and enjoyable part for the kids.

Layla's gets really into the yelling along with us and other people around us. Yelling "Get 'em! Stop 'em", and "Go, Go, GO!!!!!!!!!" She also got really into one of the songs played between plays which has lyrics "raise a little hell" she replied with as clapping "Raise Hell!". It it is absolutely adorable when she yells "get 'em" because a little vein in her for head will pop out as her face turns red from yelling. I mean c'mon cowboys GET them already so the little toddler doesn't freak out up here!

Aidan as always is a little more laid back, but he still does his share of cheering...he loves clapping to the music between plays and he occasionally will yell "get em" but he is more of a guy that concentrates on the game, and yells "tackle!" when the offencive and defencive tackle eachother and such. This picute i love, even though he is trying to push me away, it makes me so happy that i can share time with him that he enjoys. He really loves yelling "go pokes!" the kids know everytime they see the steamboat sign to yell "Go Pokes!!!"

Layla as i mentioned before loved to yell at the game and the players. Before each game i explain what colors we are cheering for and what to say. She will get so into the game sometimes it is hard to even get her attention to get her from stop yelling between plays.
Aidan and Kendall, him and his daddy hanging out,...he really enjoys the football games too, not only does he get to go out, he gets to sit on whoever he wants if it is Kendall, Gary, or Skylar (i swear Layla has a crush on him). He just wants so badly to be "one of the guys."
After the games we will usually have a BBQ or some sort of get together somewhere...usually at our house so the kids can get a quick nap in since the games fall during naptime. Here they are enjoying a fruit smoothy together...so sweet, each have their own straw! I hope it can be a family tradition to go to football games together and share the cheering and yelling together! Even tonight the kids before bed begged to watch a "football game!!!" they love getting in the three point stance and running the ball before getting tackled by one of their framily.

Charlie Bit My Finger

Ok, so at work the other night Laurel and I were playing on youtube.com and came across some pretty funny kid clips...man kids always have cracked me up, i think Aidan and Layla say or do something daily that leave me rolling on the floor and wishing i would have had the camera out! Here is one i thought was pretty funny from youtube check it out, i still laugh, maybe it is just the British accent i dont know!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

Private

If anybody could figure out how to get on here, i have sent an invite email, if you know of anybody else that reads this and would like an invite please let me know, i do not have everybody's email.

On the note of why i decided to change to a private blog is the increasing amount of strangers that read blogs and take down bits and pieces of information to figure out where the blogger is. The scarier thing is, some cases have had strangers actually take pictures from the blog of children and post or sell them and where they live, almost pin pointing their location from just that sort of information. Scary, i still want to share with friends and family so this is what i have done.

Hope all can get here now!

Hardly Working

Even though i am co-manager of the call center for the foundation, i still feel as if i do not do much throughout the night. Although i wonder why i complain about this, i try and stay busy. Either by wrong number research or homework. This year we are only having 8 stations for callers to use each night, downsizing from 15. Both my boss, and his boss left this summer, so things for us have been starting off slow, considering everything was put on another another person in the foundation.
To add to the chaos of figuring everything out on ourselves this year, we recently moved to a whole other building, off campus and ant infested. I am not one to complain about ants, but i am talking about big black flying ants everywhere despite constant spraying and bug bombs. I guess that is how much the University appreciates the individuals that help bring in 45% of their fundings.

Anyway, it is nice to feel important and the one in charge and actually having to conduct interviews, train, and run the whole thing. This year we have a girl from my hometown, the little sister of a girl in my class, so in a way it is nice to hear whats going on back there.

Enough said on that, i have had a pay increase and this will be something awesome to put on my resume. I have been watching for jobs near here that would be something that i could do from my major when the job arises. I have gotten information from the local Big Brothers Big Sisters, Department of Family Services, the Hospital, Safe Project, and the local Youth Crisis Center. We will see how any of that goes.

What Happened to Small?

So, looking at McDonalds menu, i realized my regular size french fries (use to be 99cents) has become the small, at 1.49, which in reality my regular size french fries (the one in the middle) in the beginning wasn't even the large! The little paper size french fries use to be the regular size, now it is only found in kids menus...i think unless they have discontinued it now. Makes you realize why America has a weight problem, look at the growth of french fries over the years....AWWW! Now imagine those french fries along side a big mac and a large coke ( i won't even get in to how THOSE have grown). Kind of makes me sick, but in a way the fries are SOO good, ill just have to make sure i limit to staying with the small now. I will restrain from putting the calories of these bad boys up for now, considering i think we are have McDonalds for lunch, the bright side i guess is i don't eat all of mine due to little fingers grabbing the rest. Maybe kids are like a diet, they eat half of my food most the time, and nothing on their own plates.

More S'mores

About 10 years ago, my parents did something really special for me. I had been wanting a dog for my own for awhile, and even though i had some great little dachshunds that i shared with my sisters and brother, i really wanted a "real" dog. Definition of a real dog for me then was a dog that would play more than fetch, but that would go hiking with me without me having to carry it after a few hundred yards, a dog that would swim in the lake with me, and a dog that was bigger than a cat. My parents were not ready to commit to the big dogs that i wanted, so in the end we settled on a beagle. Still classified as a small or medium size dog, however, still enjoyed the outdoors and could keep up with me. One afternoon after school they surprised me with a trip to Laramie to pick out a beagle puppy. I was thrilled and was very excited. We brought S'more home after that, and i began training him. After a few years pasted, i began getting busy with high school but still had time to take him swimming at the lake and up to the mountains to run after rabbits and occasionally chase out a cow elk from the woods. College came and i was unable to keep a dog at any of the apartments that i rented. Being a college town here, the majority of apartments refuse pets, since college students are a big enough mess themselves for landlords to clean up after.

Immediately when Kendall said we were going to look and buy a house, i became excited that maybe he wouldn't mind me bringing S'more here to live! Finally after 4 years. Sure enough we found a house with a huge yard and even added in the contract that the previous owners leave the small dog kennel in the back for when we brought S'more here.

Last Thursday i went home and brought S'more back, even though my parents miss him terribly, i want to give him a chance here to see if he is happy. He has adjusted well, and loves to play with Emily's border collie Sage. He is learning that the kids are here all the time and he needs to get his patients built up. It has been nice to have the security of a dog, i have always felt safe when i am home alone if i have a dog here, S'more can be pretty protective of me, always has been and i hope he grows to do that for the kids. Layla adores him, Aidan seems to not enjoy dogs as much as he did, maybe it is just the dogs he enjoys. Layla always sits with him to give a little hug, or to just pat him on the head calling to him "here More!" She is a lot more gentle than Aidan and you can tell that the dogs really pick up on that and avoid Aidan a bit more. He will learn.

Monkey George!

Since we moved in, i had the idea that the kids play room would be a place where they could go and everything about that room would reflect fun and playful. I asked our friend Chris if he could draw anything on the wall just to give it a more "kids only" room feeling. He agreed, and him, Emily, and Kendall helped paint what he sketched out on the walls. I wanted it bright and fun, so the balloons are very bright and the kids love pointing them out. Next we have Curious George who the kids insist on calling "monkey George". I absolutely love the tree, it is set in the corner of the room spreading over two of the walls. The kids LOVE it, and as soon as we clean up the paint they can go in there again and actually play! We have shown them the picture on the wall and they always say goodbye to the balloons, monkey george, the tree, the leaves and the paint still sitting in there. :) I Love it!

Deadwood/Lander...

Things have been pretty busy around here. Two weekends ago we headed up to Spearfish/Deadwood to see friends Karl, Amber, and newly born Karl II. It was a lot of fun being able to take the kids on a mini vacation, they got their first experience of Chuckie Cheeses and also the family got to take a old time photo at a local place in Deadwood, very cool.

This past weekend we went up to Lander to visit some friends for a housewarming...there was a caravan of us, Gary, Nikki, Chris, Em, Skylor, Kendall, the kids and I. It was a great time and we got to enjoy their lovely big house! :) The kids had fun chasing the cat and playing with fake turtles (Layla broke one on accident and tried putting it back together before we found her, in which we owe Katie a new one!!!) Here are some pictures from here an there.

Kendall holding Karl II, he is close to three months old now. Such a cuddlebug, we were lucky to be one of the first people to hear him laugh, such an amazing thing!!
Aidan and Kendall at Deadwood matching in their white polos. We had a lot of fun at Deadwood, with the kids, and also at night without them gambling...i lost my money i had brought to play with so had to quit early haha.
Layla and Aidan wrestling at Lander, of course Layla seems to always somehow pin Aidan. She really uses her extra half a pound on him.
We went to this really neat place up by Lander called "the Sinks. It is a river which goes down into a cave, and about a quarter mile down it comes back up out of the ground. You can then walk down there and feed some trout reaching up to at least 12 pounds. Here is Layla and Kendall posing in front of the river as it goes down into the cave/ground.

Aidan along the river as it goes into the ground, sitting along the rocky bank as he throws smaller rocks into the water. The kids really enjoyed this and would not stop talking about the "river and rocks" that they saw.

Other than that, i have a phone that works now and can actually answer when people call. Whoohoo!

Conversations from here and there...

In the car:
Layla: Daddy...Seatbelt!
Aidan: Seatbelts!!
Kendall: Why do we wear seat belts?
Layla: SAFE!!
Kendall: That is right, so we can be safe!
Layla and Aidan: yesss...safe.

Layla's comment after the car wash "Daddy...AWESOME!"

Counting...
Cindy: Hey Aidan, lets count the chairs, one, two, three...you try!
Aidan: Uno...Dos...Tres....
(apparently Dora has had more of an influence than we thought!)

Kiss It...
Layla: Mommy owee
Cindy: Where is your owee Layla?
Layla: butt...kiss it! (points to her butt)
Cindy: oh sweetie how about i blow a kiss?
Layla: No Kiss it!
~~Later that night~
Nikki changing Layla's diaper with a rash
Layla: Gikki...owee (points down there)
Nikki: Yes i see, i will put cream on to make you feel better down there.
Layla: no, no Gikki...kiss it better.
Nikki: How about i put cream on then blow a kiss with your diaper on?
Layla: Ok!


Best Friend: (we had to ask the kids numerous of questions for their development at the doctors..here is how Layla's went)
Cindy: Layla who are your friends?
Layla: No mommy, playing.
Cindy: Layla who is your best friend then? The doctor wants to know.
Layla: Eeyore!!

Counting Cars

Aidan has grown to be such a little goof ball, he is constantly making me and everybody else laugh by his facial expressions, or doing something physically crazy. I always joke that he is going to be the class clown and Layla will be the class talker.
Even though Aidan is a silly little boy, he also has this side to him that is obsessed with figuring things out, taking things apart (our front door), and recently counting like crazy. Aidan loves to count, he can count to 10, usually he won't do it when asked, but if i start counting he will finish for me, or "help" me then saying every other number back and forth with me. However if you catch him, he will quietly count in the car as we drive, pointing out cars...one, two, thwee, four and so forth, he will quietly count with Dora on TV, he will count the chairs in the room, count his toes...this kid LOVES to learn! He even surprised us the other day when he went "uno, dos, tres!!!" Dora influence i am sure but i really think he realizes it is also 1 2 3. I work with him daily on counting and actually have been finding a few websites for both of them to sit next to me and count with different objects and numbers that is meant to help kids learn. Aww they are my little sponges!

Cooking 101 by Aunty Em

The kids love helping so we have started to get them involved in the kitchen and its very cute that after we are done with everything, later they will "cook" that item or mix it up in their own little kitchen as make believe. Layla and Aidan are helping Emily make a pizza here by putting on pepperonis.
Aidan was very serious about getting the pepperonis lined properly. He didnt even try eating them!
Layla enjoying the pizza's afterwards, she is such a silly little girl sometimes!
Lately we have been making a lot of brownies, and Layla LOVES helping, she is missing the bowl a little bit with the powder mix but she poured the oil in perfectly.
I would say the best part for her is mixing it up, although when we try and help or finish mixing all the powder and clumps, she gets mad saying "No, ill do it!"