I think I'll call her Mini-Me

I love my little girl! She is so smart and a very good talker for her age. She does and says so many cute things. I don't write them down often enough and I am sure that I have forgotten so many of them. This post is some of the most recent Ameliah-sims.

She has a comforter that has some jungle animals on it. One day she was asking me what each animal was. Later that day while we were having dinner she said "hippo-pa-not-a-mus". I was very impressed. Even though she got it wrong, that is a pretty long word to remember. I corrected her even though I thought it was darling, because I want her to learn it correctly.

Ameliah has the movie A Shark Tale. That movie has some lines from The Godfather in it. Last week I was working on the computer and Ameliah was playing next to me with some dolls and I heard her say: "Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am?". I laughed at her and she loved the attention, so I taught her the next line "I'm the Don, the boss". The rest of that day she came up to me and said that line. She even said it to Daddy when he got home.

Ameliah is learning how to pray. The other day I asked her to say the blessing on the food at dinner. She started off great with "Heavenly Father, thank you for this day..." then she opened her eyes and looked around and pointed to the cake she had earlier and said "...thank you for this cake right here..." as she said that she stuck her finger in it and took a taste.

Jodi watched our kids on Monday so that we could go out and celebrate our anniversary. While she was there, Ameliah watched Barbie-The 12 Dancing Princesses. She liked it so much that she asked if we could take it home. Right as we walked in the door she was asking to watch it. The next morning when she woke up I asked her "What would you like to have for breakfast"? She said "Um, I would like to have-watch Dancing Princesses." That night in her prayer she said that she was thankful for dancing princesses.

I am so proud of my little Toots. She is so cute and smart and I really enjoy having a little playmate! She's my mini-me!

Ragmuffins and Rainsticks

I have been so busy lately, that I have neglected my blog (and by the looks of these pictures, my kids too. They look like little ragmuffins!). I just got a new calling to be the Nursery Coordinator. My job is not to teach, but to be in charge of the whole program and making sure that everything runs smoothly. When I met with the Primary President she told me that I am basically the Nursery President. We have 3 classes (about to make a 4th) with a total of 47 kids. I have 2 assistants that have been doing this for over a year and they are amazing. They both know everything and are extremely helpful.

In our first presidency meeting, the Primary President asked me to come up with a "Gathering Activity" for the kids for the first 10 minutes of class so that their transition from being with parents to coming to class will be more positive. One of the ideas mentioned was musical instruments for the kids to play with. I know we don't have a big budget for nursery, so I looked online and found some inexpensive instruments that I can make at home. The first instrument I chose to make is a Karate Kid style drum. I made them out of margarine tubs, dowel rods, string and beads, then I decorated them with electrical tape.

After working on them for hours, I finally finished and had to test them on my little guinea pigs and they absolutely LOVED them! We took them to church on Sunday and the other little kids enjoyed them, too. I think this instrument thing will be a hit. This week I have been working on making rainsticks out of mailing tubes, nails, beans and rice. I have been having so much fun with this that I am wondering if it is more for me or for the kids!

Thanks to my friend, Heidi, I will start on my egg shakers next. I had no idea where I was going to find plastic Easter eggs this time of year, but yesterday I was visiting with Heidi and she had a bunch of them and she gave them to me. Woo-Hoo!

This calling has been keeping me busy. We are 6 teachers short in nursery and there has been a lot of chaos for about a month before I got called because the person I replaced had already left. Even though it is kinda crazy right now, I think that it will all settle down soon and I will really enjoy my job. I have been able to do a lot of organizing already and that is right up my alley. This is the 3rd time that I have been called to nursery. I'm flattered that the Lord feels that I am worthy to serve his precious little innocent ones and I hope that I can help make their first church experiences to be good ones.

He's my lobster!

Four years ago today I married my best friend. Our marriage has been a beautiful, action-packed adventure so far and I am so excited to see what the next 65+ years have in store for us.

We have been blessed with two of the most perfect, precious (and gorgeous) children in the world. I really enjoy being a wife to Todd and a mother to Ameliah and Cannon. My life is so much more meaningful because they are the center of it. I love my husband! We have a great relationship and so much LOVE!

Todd- I love ya babe! "I love you every time." "Honey you are a rock upon which I stand... And honey you should know that I could never go on without you... Honey you are the sea upon which I float... You're the one that I wanted to find."

I'm so glad you picked me, because I certainly "choosed you". I am yours forever! Happy Anniversary!

Saturday is a special day...

What an action-packed day! We were on the go since 6:00 Saturday morning. I had a meeting first thing in the morning, so Jodi came over and watched my kids. When I got back, we loaded whatever we could fit of Becky's stuff into Jodi's car and sent her off to Becky's to help her move in. I got to keep Kinley while Jodi was at Becky's. This picture is so cute, and totally candid. Ameliah had her arm around Kinley while they were watching Shark Tale together. They played so nicely and I was able to get a lot done, including making cookies for a block party. Dale and Scott came in the afternoon with a U-Haul that Rob rented and got the rest of Becky's things and met up with Ken and James who brought the things that Becky had at Mom and Dad's house. It was so nice of everyone to pull together and help out. I understand that they got everything done rather quickly. It's great to have family you can count on.
When Shephard got off work, he picked up Kinley and we took off right behind him to the block party at the park. Daddy met us there when he got off work. Several of our neighbors showed up and it was nice to meet them. There was a big Spiderman bounce for the kids and Ameliah was absolutely terrified of it! She doesn't know who Spiderman is, but apparently she thinks he looks scary. I tried to explain to her that he was not real. She wanted to bounce, but would not because you have to crawl under Spidey's legs to get inside. I felt her trembling when we got close. When Daddy got there, he tried to coax her into it, but she was still not having it.
So I took Cannon in there to show Ameliah how fun it was, but she still would not even attempt it. We told Ameliah that we would have to watch Spiderman sometime so that she could see that he is a nice guy.When we got home, we hung out with Daddy while he did yardwork. We had plans to go out for our Saturday night date, but by the time the yardwork was finished, neither of us wanted to go anywhere, so we made it a staying in night. Amelaih requested that we watch Spiderman. We don't have it so we watched a different movie and ate treats together.
After the movie, the kids piled on top of Todd to play. These little ones sure love their Daddy! By the time we put the kids to bed at 9:00, we were so thoroughly exhausted that we just fell asleep too. What a day!

"He's the cheese to my macaroni"

So, last night Todd and I were watching FRIENDS (which is our normal routine because I am a FRIENDS fanatic! I own 6 out of 10 complete seasons), and my sweet husband could tell that I had an emotional day. He sweetly asked what I needed, to which I replied "Maybe words of affirmation" (one of my BIG love languages). He said, "Okay, I can do that".

About a minute later, he tenderly held my face and looked deeply into my eyes and said... "Words of Affirmation". I thought that was absolutely hilarious! What a great way to lighten my mood! Ha! I love that guy! As far as husbands go, he is totally boss! He knows how to make me laugh, which is one of my most favorite things to do in the whole wide world! I think I'll keep him.

P.S. I challenge anyone who dares to a FRIENDS trivia game. Bring it on!

Sisters by chance, friends by choice

Just me and my sisters. In a family of 5 brothers, us 3 girls have always stuck together. For the last 6 months, I have had the pleasure of having Becky live with us while she had her total hip replacement and recovery. For half of that time we literally lived around the corner from Jodi. It has been so fun having us all so close again.

Becky found a great place in Gilbert and is moving to be closer to work and her kids' school, which means my playmate, companion, nanny and most importantly, my friend is leaving. While I am excited for her and the new adventure she is about to embark on, I can't help but be a little bummed for myself. I would say that I'm like 95% happy for her and 5% bummed. No, more like 90:10.

Over the last 6 months, we have had some laughs, some cries, some silly times and lots and lots of ice cream together. While I do realize that she will be living only a few minutes away and is always just a phone call away, I can't help but think of how much I will miss her. She is one of my best friends. She has been my nearly constant companion for 6 months now, and is a big part of my day. I know my kids are going to miss the heck out of her, too! They both love her so much!

Becky-Todd and I wish you the best of luck on your new path and know that you will be happy and successful. You are a positive, loving person with a tremendous amount of faith, and that will take you everywhere.

I just want to close by saying the words to the song you sang to me the day I moved to IL that made me weep (and still get teary when I hear it):

"That I love you, I have loved you all along. And I miss you, been far away for far too long."

And I also want to tell you the poem the 3 of us girls wrote together when we were little:

Lovey Dovey Do I love you, you know it's true chickaboo chickaboo. Hold me tight with all your might. Hug hug hug but never fight or bite.

Man, I miss you already!

Ice Cream Attack!

Our freezer is the kind that is a drawer underneath the fridge, so any time I open it, I have a little helper that likes to come check it out. I got in there this morning to quickly pull out some baby food for Cannon and there he was. He immediately found the Sonic ice cream Becky put in there last night, pulled it out and went to town. He got the lid off and ate everything he could from it and then he went for the cup itself. He threw a big fit when I took it away from him. What a mean mom! I'm not surprised that he has found a love for ice cream at such a young age, because he is a product of Todd and I. We are definitely an ice cream family! We even had ice cream cones at our wedding reception!

Goldfish and Green Beans

This morning I had a meeting that ran right through Cannon's morning nap. We got home so late that I planned to skip the morning nap and wait for his noon nap. Brother had another thing planned. When I took this picture, he was still slowly eating, but with his eyes closed.

Then the next time I looked over, he was out. I was making a lot of noise, but he slept right through it. Notice the goldfish stuck to his shirt.

Ameliah must have worked up an appetite playing with the other kids at the meeting, because she ate almost an entire can of green beans by herself. I usually have a hard time getting her to eat any vegetables at all (except corn), let alone a whole can!

Good Times, Pizza Night!

Last night I had some last minute errands that I had to go to town for. I didn't realize that I would be out so long, so I met Becky and the kids at Pizza Mart for dinner.

The kids "played" the video games while we were waiting for our food. It was hard to get Ameliah to stop playing and come eat.

Baby brother Cannon was content sitting in his high chair watching everyone, which was nice for me!

You know I couldn't leave Pizza Mart without my cone- that's the best part! I gotta say, they tasted a lot better when they were only a quarter.

Mother's Day Weekend

Ameliah and Celeste woke up early on Saturday morning and decided they wanted to play outside. They went outside for a minute and came back in asking for their coats. I don't know why coats were required as it is May in Arizona. Whatever floats their boats!
Then Todd took me out on my Mother's Day date where I got to pick everything we did. I wanted to go to Tempe Marketplace and eat at Red Robin, even though that's what we did last weekend. Only this time, we didn't have our kids with us.
Then I wanted Cold Stone again and it was magnificent! Umm, Cold Stone!Then we saw "What happens in Vegas". We both really enjoyed it. We got done before 10:00 and felt the night was still young, so we went to Walmart and looked around and hung out for over an hour and had a good time.

My Mother's Day was great. My honey got me a pair of shorts that I had been wanting. We went to Todd's parents for lunch and got to talk to his sister Debbie who is on a mission in Florida. Then we came home and I got a blessed Mother's Day nap. When I woke up, I decided I would make some baby food for Cannon, because I am sick of spending $11 a week in baby food. I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn't notice that Cannon was under the table eating a chunk of my Mother's Day chocolate mint pie that had fallen on the ground. By the time I found him, it was all over him and my kitchen floor. He had some on his sicks, so he spread it all over the place. Luckily I caught him before he got to my nearly white carpet! Then I got to call my mom and talk to her for a few minutes. It was good to hear her voice. I would say that my weekend was wonderful. I wish every weekend was Mother's Day weekend!

C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me!

What cookie, mom?

We put Cannon in his seat, gave him a baby teething cookie and set off to get some work done. When we came back, this is what we found. He loved his cookie, though, so it was worth having to bath him when he was done. He still has no teeth, so he gummed the whole thing. He's my cute little Cookie Monster!

My little Cookie Monster is now walking. He has been taking a few steps at a time for a couple of weeks now, but I think he's finally got the hang of it. He has really good balance for a guy just learning to walk. He knows he's a big boy when he walks and he gets excited and tries to run. I think I'm really in trouble now!

"This is the hand that made this blog"

**WARNING: This post is based on a dream that my sister Becky had about me. I thought it was so funny that I told her I would post it on my blog. It is intended for satirical purposes and in no way reflects my true feelings about my hand or my blogging ability. I just enjoy creative writing and have all the time in the world to do it.**

Ode to my blogging hand

Behold, my blogging hand.
Oh the blog this hand has created!
Taking pictures; capturing precious memories.
Passionately typing away to imaginatively tell the blog’s story.
These fingers are an integral component of the work of art that is...
My blogging hand.

Becky sent me these pictures. I was thinking maybe I could dress up my blogging hand to look like these:

No? Okay, not really.

"Hey Mom, Watch I can do!"

Ameliah is my little buddy. We spend every day hanging out. I would definitely say she is a "Quality Timer" as she likes to have attention all of the time. The most recent thing she likes to say is "Hey Mom, watch I can do". Then she proceeds to do something that she feels is cool and I am suppose to watch. Sometimes I can't quite tell exactly what she is doing that I should be impressed with. Then she will say it again, and the thing she is doing is very much the same as the last time she said it. It is very cute.

Last night we took the kids with us on our date night. We went to Tempe Marketplace and had dinner and planned to walk around. After dinner we started on our walk. We stopped at the main stage because there was a dj playing music and some little kids dancing on the stage. We thought Ameliah would enjoy dancing so we put her on the stage. She stood there for several minutes just watching the other kids dance. We kept encouraging her to dance. We wanted her to do the "Strawberry Shake". That is a dance she learned from her Strawberry Shortcake video. She wouldn't do it.
She stood there so long that I thought she wouldn't do it. Then she just started dancing. She would watch the other kids and do what they were doing. I was so mad at myself for not bringing a camera with me and wishing I even had a video camera. It was the cutest thing ever. She was doing some pretty sweet moves! Some she would copy and some she made up on her own. She was having a blast. I wanted to go to Cold Stone and I tried to coax her down, but she cried like she was just devastated. How could I ruin her fun? So I sent Todd to get the ice cream and I sat there and watched her dance.
People were coming up to us and telling us how cute and entertaining she was and asking us where she learned to dance like that. She was break dancing (including an attempt at "The Worm" that actually looked pretty good surprisingly), the moon walk, and pretending to be the dj. We smiled and laughed at her for about and hour and a half. What joy these little kids bring into our lives. We were so proud of our little girl. She had the time of her life and was definitely in her element! Even Cannon was dancing and even trying to climb on the stage! It is so much fun to watch our little ones grow up!

Say Cheese!

I finally got pictures done of my kidlets. I was really pleased with how well they turned out.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home!

Mommy's Lil' "Helper"

The other night I heard Todd say "Hey Mom-come look!" I found him in the laundry room laughing at Cannon who was "helping" with my clean laundry.

We were laughing at him, so he happily continued to unload the dryer.

It looked like he was even trying to sort them for me. Wouldn't that be nice?

Then he came back later to "help" some more. Why would Mom leave the laundry out if she didn't want "help" with it?