It's Like Riding A Bike!

Last week end the training wheels came off and Josh decided (with a little encouragement from ME) to teach Elizabeth how to ride a bike. She did pretty good. She kept stopping and hitting herself in the head, after a while Josh asked her why she was hitting herself in the head. Elizabeth's respond, "I need to get the stuff out of my head so that I can concentrate!" And then she would give herself little pep talks and you could hear her down the way saying, "Concentrate, just concentrate!" After a while Abigail, who was riding her bike with the training wheels on, decided she needed to show her sister how to ride a bike. She asked Josh to take her training wheels off and told her sister to just watch her, that she would be able to do it just fine. Fifteen minutes later....the training wheels were back on! After that Abigail's advice to her sister on how to ride a bike was lets just say less enthusiastic. By the end of the lesson Elizabeth was riding a two wheel bike pretty good at least when she went in a straight line, now we need to work on turning and maybe stopping!

Please Just Smile...

Picture day at school is today and it is 8:00 am right now and already we have had a fight over the bath (I told her she needed one she didn't think so!), the clothes that she picked out to wear for picture day (I don't think I can win), her hair, and her smiling, (She says that she is NOT going to smile!!!) oh and I can't forget the new shoes that I got her because she ruined her other shoes but she doesn't like because they don't have ladybugs on them (but let me say that she didn't like the one's she had until I threw them away). I thought that you go through this stuff around 12 years or so? So once again I am the mean mom that just doesn't understand! I wouldn't even be posting this not very positive post but my mother-in-law wanted to see Elizabeth on picture day. So Trudy sorry for the crying photo but this is your darling granddaughter that life just isn't fair for!! Right now she is crying in her room over the whole event.

The Toothfairy Is Coming, The Toothfairy is Coming!

Well after 2 weeks of wiggling and jiggling the tooth has finally come out!! Elizabeth has lost her first tooth today! Elizabeth has wanted to loose a tooth after Isabelle her cousin started loosing teeth about a year ago! I think its because she found out the a fairy comes and leaves you money!!! What a deal! So when we went to the dentist 2 weeks ago and they told her that she had a loose tooth you would have thought that they told her that it was Christmas or her birthday she was so excited. So today when the wiggling became so great that it was only hanging by a thread she told me to just yank it! Being the squeamish girl that I am I couldn't. Josh is out of town and so he wasn't here to just yank it out like the strong man he is, so I was stuck being the one to wiggle and twist it out. It took me about 30 minutes, with Elizabeth telling me to just pull it out already. I have to say she has the highest pain tolerances that I have ever met in a person. She doesn't even really cry when she gets a shot! She's my hero! So the tooth was put in her toothfairy pillow and is waiting to see what or how much the toothfairy will leave! It is a good day!! Oh and just in case you were wondering our toothfairy lives in our tulips, but since our tulips are no longer blooming Elizabeth told me that our toothfairy is probably just staying over at the neighbors! Now they don't have any tulips either but who am I to step on her dreams, so I just agreed with her!

A "MOM" Lesson!

I am sure that through the years most if not all mom's have heard these small simple words screamed at them at the tops of their child's yelps, "Your A Mean MOM!" Or at least some sort a variation of that phrase! I have recently found that I too am not exempt from this! If fact I have heard these words screamed at me just about every day this week, and by my child who you most likely would least expect. My sweet Elizabeth is coming into a new stage of her life and one that I hope doesn't last too much longer. She has now realized that she doesn't like it when I ask her do to ANYTHING that she doesn't feel like doing. This includes and is not limited to homework (because after all home is not for work its for play!), chores, and pretty much anything that I would have the audacity to ask her to do that she doesn't feel like doing! I do have to say that she does like her father a lot more these days and is VERY happy when he gets home from work. After being around her unreasonable, demanding, and just plain mean mom all day, she runs to Josh with hugs and kisses! At least until he tells her to mind her mother! At times it does make me sad to hear my child yell and scream a me but in the end I think I have learned a very important lesson...If you are doing it right your not going to get out of parenting with out being told once or twice (probably more) that you are MEAN! I have decided I'm OK with this so the next time I tell her its time to clean up and she throws her hands in the air and yells that I'm a Mean Mom I will just think, "Oh good I must be doing something right!"

A Trip to Temple Square

This passed Monday being Labor Day there was no school or work so we thought and thought what we would do. I was voting for shopping at Park City, but my sister Cory came up with a better idea. She called us early that morning and said that her and her family were going to go up to Salt Lake City and walk around Temple Square. I haven't walked around Temple Square in I don't know how long and I've never been in the new conference center. So we packed the girls up with a change of clothes just in case and drove up to Salt Lake. We walked to the Conference Center first. The kids loved the fountains outside. What can I say kids and water! We decided to go in and get a tour of the building. The kids did pretty good. We only had to threaten their little lives a few times. I think that they liked it. I loved it, that is a beautiful building. I think that we were taken on the shortened tour because of all the kids but...it was still nice to see. We did get to go up on the roof to the roof garden and that was very pretty. There was some great views up there. Cory and I were posing the kids every chance we could for a photo op! The poor kids were having to say cheese every time they turned around.

After the conference center we walked down a few blocks and go something to eat. We forgot any sort of stroller, so there was a lot of whinning!!! Abby ended up getting blisters on her feet and had to be carried, and we hadn't even gotten to the temple grounds yet! Once we ate we went back over to temple square and went into the visitors center. We went up to where the large statue of Jesus is and sat and looked at it. I was sitting with Elizabeth and when the voice of Jesus started talking her eyes got real big and she looked at me and asked, "Mom can you hear that?" I said, "yes, its Jesus talking lets listen." Elizabeth sat there completely still and listened with the biggest eyes. During one part when Jesus tells us to Love One Another, Elizabeth said, "Did you hear that Jesus just told us to love everyone I knew that already." After Jesus was done with his speech. Elizabeth asked me if that was really Jesus because she was so excited to be able to hear Jesus speak. I told her that it was Jesus talking to her and we needed to listen to him. She now feels that that was the best part of the day. And tells everyone that she has heard Jesus talk to her! That I think was the best part of the whole day.

After the visitor center we walked around the temple and Abigail thought that it looked more like a castle! She loved it! All and all it was a pretty good day hanging out with the fam.! Here are some more pictures of our day...

Shall We Dance!

Today I took Elizabeth and Abigail to their first day of Ballet classes. Abigail is in the younger class and Elizabeth is in the older class. Let me just say I was a little shocked by how much Abigail can listen and remember directions! Now I know for sure that she ignores me when I'm telling her to clean up! I took the girls to the store after Elizabeth came home from school to pick out their ballet outfits. They loved that! I only stayed for Abigail's class and let me tell you it was so cute!!! Elizabeth's class started after Abby's and she is in it with her cousin Isabelle so my sister said she would take Elizabeth home (I wasn't feeling too good...so I took Abigail home)! Cory told me that she needs to practice to catch up to the rest of the class so we will be practicing ballet...heck we will probably need to start with coordination first...baby steps!

A Few More Conversations With My Girls

Elizabeth has been going to school now for 5 whole days and she rides the bus every day! Abigail and I walk her to the bus stop each morning to wait for the bus to come. I think is was by the second or third day that Elizabeth said, "I can walk to the bus stop by myself mom."

ME: "You don't want me to walk you to the bus stop?"

Elizabeth: After a small pause, "Mom if it makes you feel better you can walk me to the bus stop!"

My sweet girl didn't want to hurt my feelings!

The girls were sitting on the trampoline at my parents house with my mom talking. Abigail jumps up and announces that she has to go to the bathroom and tells them, "Pause, everyone pause." I guess she didn't want to miss anything.

Abigail: "Mom, I'm going to run away to Nana's house."

ME: "Really."

Abigail: With an giggle, "Ha...Ha...I funny, aren't I Mom."

I don't know where she gets her jokes from.