Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Two is my very favorite age.  I've never thought they were so "terrible," rather, quite terrific.  What I love about a kid this age is that they are just figuring things out.  They are learning new things, and testing themselves at them.  They smile.  They laugh.  They say funny things and are proud of themselves for the littlest of accomplishments.

RJ will kick a ball and say to me, "See it mom?  See it mom?"  He'll jump from my bathtub and say, "See it mom?  See it mom?"  He'll run fast like Lightning McQueen and say, "See it mom?  See it mom?"

One of his favorite things to do right now is to gallop.  He gallops and gallops all over the house saying, "Gallop, gallop, gallop."  He's so proud of his new accomplishment and his little voice can be heard resonating through the house, "Gallop, gallop, gallop."

The terrific thing about it is, his speech of coarse is still developing so all his sounds aren't right.  His g sound follows the typical pattern of a two-year-old, being replaced by a d sound.  He doesn't quite have his l's yet either.  Those are replaced by an m sound.  The end of the word gets dropped off, leaving the word to end with a soft a sound.

Maybe take a minute and figure that out.

So... around and around the house he goes, galloping and repeating "gallop, gallop, gallop" over, and over, and over again!  Absolutely terrific!

Potty Training Number 5

By number five you would think I would have this down.  That I would have figured out all the tricks, all the bribery techniques, all the ways to manipulate a nearly two-year-old's mind to think that he really wants to sit on the toilet every couple hours.

Unfortunately, this two-year-old's a little different than the others. He can't be bought.  

He's no longer enticed by M&Ms and suckers.  Cheerios and Goldfish crackers in the toilet aren't hacking it either.  

So I decided to resort to his intellectual side.  I explained that he could not go "tinkle" in his underwear.  I told him the consequences: being wet, having itchy legs, and needing to get in the bath and change clothes.  It seems to have helped as he's happier to sit on the toilet now.  

So I pat myself on the back and contemplate names I might use for my potty training book.

Then, last week, there was a puddle on the couch.  The kids insisted RJ peed on it, but RJ was dry.  It definitely smelled like pee and was too big a spot for the dog.  Hmmm.

The answer to my cunundrum was just around the corner, literally.   A few days later the girls caught RJ pulling his underwear aside and peeing on my carpet!  I recalled my words to him, "Do not pee in your underwear."

The name of my potty training book, "Outsmarted By a Two-Year-Old."

Date Morning Anyone?

Ryan and I aren't the best at "date night."  We've been to one movie in the past year without the kids and dinner perhaps once.    Days are busy and nights are even busier.  It's difficult to find the time or energy to go out, let alone the guilt I feel for leaving the kids alone.  

An opportunity came up, though, to go on a morning date.  

It was going to cost a bit of money and provide nothing in services.  The atmosphere would be beautiful, though slightly chilly, as we'd tour a stretch of the Mesa canal.  We'd spend very little time with our actual date and have to pull ourselves out of bed at 5:30 a.m.  And did I mention transportation would be our own two feet? 

Perhaps he's not too romantic, but oh how I love that half-marathon man!

He's Two!

It's been a long time since I've had a two-year-old boy.  We therefore don't have as many cars and trucks as we used to, not so many army figures.  Even the dinosaurs aren't as plentiful.  They've all been replaced by Barbies, doll houses and dress ups.  Therefore the options were open for a really great present for RJ's birthday.  Hmmm... What... to.... choose.

I settled on a larger-than-foot-tall Buzz Lightyear Action Figure (It's not a doll).  RJ's crazy about his Buzz lunch box!  I was giddy thinking about how much he'd love it.  It's so different than everything we have!  We were all so excited for our unsuspecting boy to open his present.

When expectations are high, disappointment runs deep.  RJ's terrified of Buzz.  I'm so sad!  On a shelf he sits.  

Isn't Woody the one that's supposed to be dumped on the shelf to collect dust?

Off To Fight the Goblins

Halloween, a holiday every child looks forward to.  There's the costumes, candy, parties, and don't forget the spooky decorations.  What fun!  Fun... 

Maybe not if you're two and you have a sensitive soul.  If you're afraid of the dump truck Grammy and Papa J gave you for your first birthday.  Or the fake vomit your siblings throw at your feet (Oh, the fun they've had!).  Or your Buzz Lightyear costume!  Fun... maybe not so much.

The costumes elicited uncontrollable crying and even the candy couldn't bribe RJ through the frightening decorations to the doors without clawing at my arms.

So how do you convince a sensitive two-year-old to dress up and fight the goblins?  You play to his weakness. 

Football player anyone?  Poor RJ!  

The Wizard of Oz

In our stake there is something truly amazing going on.  Once a year the youth have the opportunity to put on a professional theatrical production, produced by Don Bluth.  Don was a Disney animator back in the day when Walt Disney was around.  He had the opportunity to work on iconic films like Sleeping Beauty and Pete's Dragon.  After leaving Disney he started his own production company and produced other well-known animated films, such as American Tale, All Dogs Go to Heaven, and Anastasia.  So he's pretty accomplished, yet, once a year this talented man donates his time to run a production for kids.  The production profits nothing financially, but does reap rewards in the lives of the youth involved.

I'm not sure what got Braden interested in theater.  I would think wearing makeup and tights, singing, dancing, and acting in front of an audience would be enough to send any boy the other way.  But Braden must have a little too much of me in him.  He loves it!  

This year's youth production is The Wizard of Oz and for the first time Braden is old enough to participate.  He's playing a munchkin, a crow, and a winkie (did you know that's the name of the witch's guards?).  He's wearing tights without complaint and becoming an expert at putting on his own makeup.  He's singing "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" with his George Bush turned munchkin puppet, marching in patterns as a winkie, and pestering the scarecrow as a crow.  This boy truly amazes me sometimes!  

Break a leg B!

Fall Break and Small Spaces

It may sound like something a kid would make up... Fall Break... a break from school right after you get back in school, but our new school district actually does have one.

I was a little reluctant to have the kids home for a whole week after just surviving our summer "what are we going to do today" days, but of coarse the kids were thrilled with it.  It didn't take long for me to see the beauty of it either.  The most beautiful thing about fall break is that no one else seems to get one!  

The southern California beaches were all but deserted despite the 80 degree temperatures.  Knott's Berry Farm was completely empty, even though it boasts some great coasters that would make any 38-year-old mother nearly throw up and stay in Camp Snoopy the rest of the day.  And though DreamWorks studio was bustling with employees during our visit, our fun at Griffith Park afterwards was completely undisturbed.  

In fact, I think the most crowded place we went during our entire week had to have been the 1000 foot condo we were staying in!  After six days in a space that was the same size as Ryan's and my first home, our condo in Virginia, we discovered that, well... 

that 1000 square feet is really SMALL!  

 

Happy Fall Break!

The Bravest Girl I Know

As a child there was nothing I feared more than what was outside the basement window of my bedroom.  It was not that I knew what lied at the bottom of that window well.  I was afraid of what could be at the bottom of that window well.  In the event of a fire I worried that I would need to climb out it and face the unknown on the other side.  And what did I fear most was there?  Black widows.

I was sure as a child that at the bottom of that window well lived a black widow.

I never had to climb out of that well.  Never dropped anything in that I had to retrieve.  Never saw a black widow...

That is until now.

My bug-loving, pet-collecting daughter, Hadley, found herself a black widow.

When a child comes to their mother at 5:00 complaining of something, that child does not get the mother's full attention.  More often than not there is no husband around at that time of day and the mother is overseeing homework, practicing, dinner preparations, carpools and sibling squabbles.  A mother can only multi-task so much, so a complaining child gets brushed aside.

It wasn't until Hadley came to me a second time saying that her arm hurt that I stopped what I was doing and took a good look at her arm.  A bee sting?  Not a bee.  Arizona has a plethora of critters and there was only one way to find out.

When I went outside to the lounge chairs where the girls had been playing I was looking for a scorpion.  I figured that must have been it and was seeking confirmation.  I threw pillows from the chairs looking.  I didn't see anything.

Then Hadley shouted, "Spider!"

Curled up in fold of one of the pillows was a large black spider.

My childhood fear right in front of me.  I threw a cup over the top of it.

Was it a black widow?  Was it just a spider?  Hadley began to complain more and more about the pain in her arm. Ryan was unreachable.  Darn that doctor husband!

I began calling physicians we know.  I needed an opinion.  An ER doctor from the neighboring ward returned my call.

"Take a picture of the spider on the top, then flip it over and take a picture on the bottom and text it to me."

Are you kidding me?  Did he not know that the only spider lover currently home just got bitten by one?

Facing my fears I had Braden remove the cup, I snatched one quick photo, and then we threw the cup back over the top.

"The picture's not good enough.  You'll need to get closer."

What?

In the end it was determined that it was a black widow.  Hadley spent several hours at the ER where she was treated for pain.  Anti-venom is not readily available and as long as the pain is treatable, they don't administer it.  So we watched her.  She had a high fever for 24 hours and difficulty breathing.  She ate little and slept the majority of the next four days while the poison worked its way through her little system.

My poor bug-loving Hadley, having none of the same fears I had as a child, was bitten by a black widow.  All I could tell her over those four days was that she is the bravest girl I know!

Happy Birthday Emme!

Emmry is growing up despite all my efforts to keep her little.  Glasses, orthodontist visits, and a love for the mall are constant reminders that my efforts are fruitless.  This year she has decided she wants to be called Emme (with the e sound at the end).  With the fresh start that a new school and ward provide, it was the perfect time.  Change is the perfect time for a fresh start, I should know!  Arizona was mine.

So, happy birthday Emme!  I'm glad it only took you only nine years to make your fresh start. It took me (CeCe, also known as Cyndee) 34!

Happy 6th Birthday Girls!

 According to Chloe the worst part of being a twin is sharing a birthday.  All the choices that come with celebrating that long awaited, once a year celebration, where everything is all about you, must include another person.  Like, what you want for breakfast.  What special treat to bring to school.  Where to go for dinner.  What kind of cake.  All of these privileged decisions require compromise when you're a twin.

It does seem a bit unfair.

But it's hard to feel too sorry for them.   They are in fact the very luckiest.  They received the greatest gift of all.  One that few other people do.  A best friend forever and always.  24/7.

It looks pretty good to me!

New Year, New Schools

When we decided to move, perhaps we didn't take into consideration all the changes that our kids would have to face.  A new neighborhood, new friends, new schools...  

The middle school bus comes at 7 a.m., there's no study hall so homework has to be done at home, and the school is old and under construction.  Parking is terrible! The receptionist is all smiles and cheeriness as she refuses every request I've made.  She's put me in tears twice.  Hopefully Braden finds it a bit more friendly, but friends are hard to make when you're in 8th grade.  People come and go now days though and being the new kid doesn't have the stigma it used to.

As for the elementary school, our last one was new and beautiful.  We traded it in for an older one with an outdoor campus, which I imagine will be fun when it's not 110 degrees outside.  Everyone seems wonderful though and the girls thankfully have each other. Last year I was running between two different elementary schools, this year the girls all get on the bus together... a nice change!  I think we'll all enjoy it!

Have fun kiddos!

Summertime Fun

Oh what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?

Do you board in a lake?

Or in the sun bake?

Race as the clouds go by?

Is that what you do?

So do I!

Passing the Torch

Growing up I was called "my little ballerina" too many times to count.  I am so glad to pass on the title!  You were amazing my little ballerina!

Closing Day

In each home we've lived there is always an area where we tend to congregate to play around.  It is where we rough house with the children: swing them, throw them, and play airplane with them up on our feet.  It is where my best memories are and the place that is the hardest to leave each time we move.  Thankfully though the places are left behind, the memories and the kids come with us!

40???

What better way to spend your birthday than on a Father and Son's Campout!  When you're turning 40, there's got to be no better way than sleeping on the hard ground to remind you how old you are!  And if that doesn't do it, just take a quick look at your teenager!

You could be brothers!

Happy 40th Ryan!

The Four Year Itch

We call it the four year itch.  Ryan and I have moved every four years since we've been married, so this winter we began feeling the itch.  It was four years ago this summer that we moved to Arizona.  There were the four years in Ohio.  Four years in Virginia.  Four, well I guess five, in Utah before that.

So, where to go?  And what to do with our house?

We've always been suckers for a good fixer-upper in a beautiful neighborhood so... with no plans of moving a month prior, we found ourselves with an accepted offer on just that in an established neighborhood in Paradise Valley just minutes from Ryan's work.

 This home was truly meant to be for us.  I had an overwhelming feeling of it.  It is in a circle surrounded by a golf community with meandering tree-lined streets.  I feel in love with the potential of it.  But faced with a loan we were uncomfortable with and a home that was not selling, we pulled out of the deal.  We've learned over the years that when the spirit speaks to you, follow, even when it's not what you want.  I was heart-broken.  But the day we notified the seller that we were pulling out, a new lender miraculously presented itself through another deal our agent was doing.  With a good loan option we moved forward and put our home back on the market.  We prayed that someone would come into our home and feel something different.  Within a week a woman and her family walked through twice, informing our real estate agent she felt something in our home.  She made an offer and we now had a deadline to get in our fixer-upper.

We were grateful to have a few more hands this time around to help scrape wallpaper, pull up carpet, sand, paint, and repair since we had only a month to fix up before move-in day.  The kids had more than a few late night movies and evening naps on the guest house floor, and then there were all those dinners amongst the ruble!  But despite all our efforts, a month later when our house in North Scottsdale closed we found ourselves moving in on concrete and a partially laid wood floor.  Oh, it's been an adventure!  And it's been another witness to us that our Heavenly Father looks after us.

Thanks to Grammy and Papa J for being our first guests in what we've lovingly coined our "Motel 6" and for helping clean fridges, fix drains, move electrical outlets, assemble furniture, scrape fountains, pull noxious weeds, hang ceiling fans, and on and on.  I'm sure the tears in their eyes when they left were a result of exhaustion and gratitude that it was time to go, rather than sorrow!  Thank you, thank you!!

Indicative of our new area, with just one week in our new home, Chloe's and Hadley's training wheels came off their bikes!  We are meeting the new neighbors and their pets! Most importantly, we don't believe the new neighborhood will have the same psychological response as past ones.  We think in four years we'll be just fine!