It's Potty Time: Part 1

Hopefully there are only 2 parts to this post.  That will be decided after tomorrow--when we start potty training Sophie.  My plan is to go "cold turkey" like we did with Jonah.  I think she's ready.  She talks about the potty and likes to sit on it.  She also loves her new undies.

She picked Hello Kitty and I picked some of the beefy Gerber ones with extra layers to soak up the accidents.

We're going to have to work on the mechanics.

So many options!  Let's just wear them all at once!

crafting again

Well, I'm not sure if I can call it a come-back but I've done a couple of crafts this week and have finally posted them on my craft blog.  Check them out!

The hint of Autumn weather is making me feel crafty again.

Jonah's First Day of Preschool

Today was Jonah's first day of school.  It's hard to believe its the beginning of many, many years of school.  He was so excited and asked me, "Do I get to ride the bus?" but unfortunately, I had to answer no.  On the way to school in the car he spotted a school bus and said, "Yeah, there's a bus we want to ride!"

We had orientation today and worked on his year-long art project and then he played for a bit and rode the train around with some of his classmates.  His teacher's name is Miss Dana.  I can't wait for his first show and tell!

Make sure you pause my music player before you start the video. ;)

Santa Fe 2010

Our annual girls' trip to Santa Fe ended just last night when I flew into SLC after a long day of travel.  I have to say it was a most successful trip!

I had so much fun with my sisters, Mom, and friends.  None of us were really ready to leave!

Last Wednesday my sister and I flew into Denver to stay the night with my parents.  We got pedicures and prepared for our trip in all the necessary ways--buying candy, picking out outfits, and discussing which treasures we were each hoping to find. 

Getting ready for our flight. Olive was so good!

B

Breakfast in the airport

Pedicures before the drive down to Santa Fe

We packed the car and left early (5am) Thursday morning to pick up Audra in Denver and then head down to Santa Fe.

We arrived just in time for lunch at one of our favorite New Mexican restaurants called Tomasita's.  The food was delicious and the green chili was HOT (good).

Posole--oh, my wonderful posole.

Stuffed Sopapilla at Tomasita's

Fries.  Laura's usual.

Dessert.  Butter, honey, mmm.

We spent the day walking the Plaza and then retired early to rest for the next day.

Friday we headed to Albequerque to visit a favorite jewelry store called Gertrude's and to pick up Annie at the airport.  We took the scenic route back to Santa Fe along the "Turquoise Trail".  We stopped in Madrid for lunch and some shopping.  We ate at The Hollar--a little hole in the wall place with FANTASTIC food.  We were all so hungry and had to wait a bit but the food was worth it!

Lunch

The Green Chili Burger

 Pretty, huh?

 

We got back to town and hit the Plaza again for a bit to check out the Georgia O'keefe museum store and to get some Haagen Dazs.

Saturday morning was Indian Market so we left the hotel bright and early to beat the heat and crowds and to secure parking.  The show didn't disappoint and we all found prizes.  We headed to Tomasita's again for lunch and then headed to the mall for some shoe shopping (unsuccessful).

We retired fairly early for naps in preparation for the opera we were to see that night.  When we woke, I was feeling a bit sick and we decided to skip the opera, get some pizza and have a relaxing night in the hotel.

Olive's bath time.  Isn't she so cute?!

 

Sunday we packed up and drove to "The Flea" (a flea market) in search for last minute treasures.  This was a new flea market and we were a bit skeptical but it didn't disappoint.  Mom found a sweet, vintage Paris bracelet for me (Thanks, Mom!!) and we all found a few other things worth taking home.

We dropped Annie off to catch her shuttle back to the airport and hit the road to make sure we got back to Denver in time for Laura and I to catch our flight back to Salt Lake.  It was a long day of travel but we were all still sad to leave each other.

Backyard Fun

Colorado 2010 Part Deux

We decided to head out to Colorado last week as a last minute getaway before things start getting hectic again.  Jon starts school again in three weeks and so does Jonah!  He'll be going to preschool two days a week and he can't wait (neither can I!).

It was so nice to spend time with my parents and with Laura and Olive (I can't get enough of that little chunk).  We took it easy and mostly hung out at my parents house and ran a few errands around town.  My mom treated Laura and I to pedicures (tradition) and also to a micro-derm abrasion treatment (I'd like this to become a tradition ;) ).

Laura spent most of her time doing hair.  She's the best sport.  After finding my second gray hair (and I'm sure there were more), I decided it was OK to dye my hair again.  It was the natural color for about 3 months...that's a record. 

After days of afternoon thunderstorms typical of Colorado--which I LOVE--we decided to take our chances and head out on the boat for an afternoon of tubing and fishing.  Jonah was excited at the thought of wakeboarding but our wakeboard has long been broken and gone.  I was sad about this too.  Jonah had his plastic golf club positioned in such a way that mimicked the position of a rope used for wakeboarding and he talked about it our whole drive to CO.  Tubing was a blast though.  I can't help but giggle the whole time.

I love this sequence of "jammie" pictures.  Mimi bought the kids matching jammies and they looked so cute!

I did go faster than this...we were in the no wake zone, I promise.

 Uh-oh...she's losing her patience!!!

 Oh good, I remembered some candy.  This kept her happy for a long, long time.

 

From Augusts Past

I thought it'd be fun to do a rewind and show a few pictures from the Augusts past.  Jon and I have known each other now for about 8 years and we've shared many Augusts together...almost all of them in that time.

2002 - Jon IS wearing a do-rag.  We were not yet dating.  This trip is where it all began...can you feel the tension?

2004 - Backpacking in the Uintas.  This is where I taught Jon to gut a fish.

2006 - Jon just found out he's going to be a daddy!

Here's to my Honey and many more Augusts to come.

a day on the farm

We saddled up and took the kids to Farm Country a few weeks ago.  Laura and Olive came, too.  We ate free Meadow Gold ice cream sandwiches and walked around looking at all the animals.  Jonah and Sophie road the ponies and we all got to ride the cow train (yes!).  It didn't take long to visit all the animals which was good because it was just too hot.

A Special Visit

Last weekend we headed up to the Wasatch mountains for a little camping.  Just a one-nighter (all you can handle with kids).  We drove quite a while to find the most beautiful spot.  It was in the middle of a clearing with loads of wild flowers, tall pine trees, and nothing but huge mountains surrounding us.  We were the only people for a few miles.

A view on the way to our site.

We roasted marshmallows and sat by the fire.  Jon and I put the kids to bed and listened to Sophie chatter to Jonah for about an hour before we decided to go to bed as well.

Jonah was fast asleep when we got in the tent but Sophie was as awake as ever.  It only took a moment to discover the thing keeping her awake--a giant poop.  We changed her and put her back down and tried to get some sleep.

I tossed and turned for about an hour trying to calm down when I finally decided to lean over to ask Jon if he was sleeping.  He said no.  I told him, "I'm terrified."  And he said, "Me too."  That was about the point we knew we wouldn't be getting any sleep that night.  We both thought we heard noises outside and couldn't relax enough to sleep.

The moon was extremely bright and I threw another log on the fire during a midnight potty break to keep up the illusion of safety.  Jon said, "Les Stroud always keeps a fire burning at night to keep the critters away."  And that made us feel better.

I feel in and out of sleep until I was woken up by a bear-like moan.  The noise seemed to be about 10 yards from the tent.  I sat straight up and listened for any other signs I should fear.  About 30 seconds later, just outside our tent I heard loud breathing--sort of "huffing" noises.  It was obviously coming from a very large animal.  Then the footsteps came, loud and heavy--displacing a lot of grass and weeds.  I was mortified.  I woke Jon up and whispered and pointed, "There's something out there."  When he sat up and listened, sure enough, we heard the same breathing and large footsteps.  I began to panic and reached for the key fob to turn the alarm on to frighten whatever it was away.  We were too far from our car, though, and it wouldn't work.  This didn't stop me from methodically and quickly continuing to press all the buttons hoping it would magically decide to turn on.  Jon opened the hatchet and held it ready in his hand.

I prayed aloud that Heavenly Father would make it go away and that we'd be safe.  I asked Jon what we should do.  I was ready to get up and scream and make noise to get it to leave.  But after Jon said a prayer of his own he looked calm and said, "We need to be quiet."  So we were.  We waited in absolute fear and terror for whatever it was to leave.  I was sure at any moment, the tent would be invaded and one of us wouldn't be going home later.  All I could think about were my sleeping babies who had no idea what was going on.  I thought of that 11 year old boy from American Fork that was dragged out of his tent by a black bear 3 years ago and eaten.

About 5 minutes passed and we heard no more noises so we decided we'd get up, start the fire quickly and begin to pack our bags.  It was only 4:30am.  Sophie woke when she heard us leaving the tent so I grabbed her and brought her out with us.  Jonah woke up just a few minutes later saying, "Guys, it's morning time!"  I didn't bother trying to get them back to sleep and started packing up the tent and chairs while Jon kept watch.

Jon pulled the car closer (but started the alarm several times on the way to get it to make sure nothing was lurking) and we loaded up.  By 5:45 we were in the car heading home.  We didn't talk about whatever it was until we were safely in the car.  We both concluded it was a bear.

When we got home at 7am we put the kids in bed (they were exhausted) and Jon started researching bear noises.  He found this noise (listen under "Apprehensive expressions"), which is exactly what we heard outside our tent (except for the chattering teeth).

Not my idea of a fun night.

 Glad all our shoes made it home, if you know what I mean.

Bastille Day

This year in celebration of Bastille Day, or La Fête Nationale, we gathered with family and friends at the park and had a picnic.  The weather cooled off just enough to be able to sit comfortably and mingle.  I made homemade baguettes and we bought salami (the closest thing to saussison) and a little brie and made sandwiches.  It was delicious!  The company wasn't too bad either. ;)

3 priceless facial expressions

Mamou oogling the newest baby to the Bush fam.

My niece, Norah.

 

Mid-conversation---NICE!