So Funny!

I was watching the Amazing Race last Sun. when I saw this little incident. I was laughing out loud at this poor guy. Hilarious i tell you.

Highs and Lows

There has been a lot going on in the past couple of hours...
First Justin's flight was supposed to land in Cheyenne around 10pm, then it got moved back to 1am. If that wasn't bad enough, I got an email informing me that the new plan was for the soldiers to spend the night in Reno and come to Cheyenne on Wednesday!!! I was beyond upset and I still don't understand why the Air Force would take the Nevada guys home first when Cheyenne is closer.
After tons of stress, aggravation, and (I'll admit) a few tears, things turned out ok. Justin, and a bunch of other men, got commercial flights into Denver. The only downside is that they have to pay out of their pockets for the flight, but I feel like it is well worth it. I will see Justin in less than 4 hours!!! :)
(The girls have to wait until tomorrow morning, because we got a hotel for tonight.)

Tomorrow!

I can finally say that I will get to see Justin tomorrow!

I'm trying to stay busy and there is plenty that I could be doing, but I can't seem to stay focused.
Today is going to be a long one. ;)

Dancing makes cleaning more fun!

I started up itunes on my computer so I could enjoy some music while I tackled our office. The office is definitely our catch-all room. Plus, it has all of Justin's papers and stuff from work and military, and I never know what is important and what isn't, so I don't dare move anything let alone throw anything away...and of course, he doesn't put things away. ;)
Anyway, it was full of clutter and needed an overhaul.
The music was pretty loud and it didn't take Justee more than 10 seconds to come running. She immediately started dancing. Sydnee followed shortly after Justee, and then Charlee came and joined the dancing party. We had fun dancing and I didn't get much cleaned for a while, but eventually I got it done.


This evening I got a babysitter and went shopping and then met some friends for dinner. It was a lot of fun. I even got the girls some Christmas dresses on sale for 50% off!

Who I thought he looked like...

The first time I saw the guy in my previous post, he had a scowl on his face and he was marching through the gym...I seriously thought it was none other than Mr. Haugenoe. I'm so glad you saw it too Tashie!
After I saw him a few more times, and he was smiling and I got a better look at him, I thought he looked like Bruce Morrison.
There was always someone else that I thought he kinda looked like too, and I just couldn't put my finger on it...I think most of you may be right and he kinda looks like Ottis, but I'm still not sure if that is who I am thinking. It might just be because I see a combination of Bruce and Doug Haugenoe. I can see Ottis a little, but I think my mom and Kristy nailed it with Bruce...it's in the smile. :)


I found this pic online. It's better quality than my phone pic, so I thought I'd throw it in. If anyone has a pic of Bruce, I'd love to be able to post it on here. ;)
*Justin thought Bruce.

Another Look-a-like...

(This really only works for people from Lovell)
I saw this guy a few weeks back and thought he looked like someone I knew...Then I saw him again and thought he looked like someone else I knew. Anyway, before I disclose who he reminds me of, I was wondering if anyone else would see it without me pointing it out.
So...who do you think he looks like??? P.S. I took this pic on my cell and sent it to Justin. He replied with the name of the person I thought he looked like. Great minds think alike. ;)

* 4 more days

Two Thumbs Up

I have seen the movie Twilight and I just wanted to say that I give it 2 thumbs up. Movies are never as good as the book they are based on, but I really enjoyed it. I don't want to give a full critique because personally, I would prefer to just see it for myself before hearing all about what someone else thought. So there you go...both thumbs are up. :)





*5 days until Justin is home.

The Simple Things

I was in the laundry room, doing the never ending cycle of laundry. After I cleaned out the lint catcher, the light hit the dust that went in the air. Justee was in awe...she kept saying, "Bubbles! Bubbles!"
She was entertained by the "bubbles" for quite a while. She kept trying to catch them.
I remember doing the same thing when I was little. It's fun to see the world through a child's eyes again.

*6 days left

One Week!!!

It is officially one week until Justin gets to come home. I don't think I have ever been so excited for anything in my life. If the saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" is true, I can't imagine how I'll feel about him when he completes this deployment.

Today is a much better day than yesterday. ;)

I just thought I'd include this pic of Justin on his 29th bday. We were in Alabama, and Justin was going through flight school (hence the helicopter cake.)

Escapees

After the egg incident, and I thought I made it through my trial of the day, things got a little worse...

I cleaned out the girls' drawers and headed down to the basement to put away the clothes that no longer fit them or the season. I was going through all the clothes, organizing and pulling out the ones that would now fit Char and Justee for winter. While I was doing this, Charlee and Justee were going up and down the stairs and in and out of the house to the backyard. I was used to hearing the door open and close. It was a nice day and they were having fun outside... Until Charlee decided the backyard was no longer fun. She came down and asked if she could go to Jayden's house to play. I told her not right now, I'm almost done and maybe we could set up a time for her to play with Jayden after I was finished.
"But the backyard isn't fun anymore!" she huffed, and then stomped up the stairs.

I was interrupted by a knock on the door not 3 mins later.
I don't get visitors very often, so I immediately knew what was going on.

The lady at the door: "Do you have 2 little girls?"
Me: "Yes." AHHH!
Lady: "They are walking around the corner down that way."
I was feeling like I should explain why I wasn't aware that my monsters had escaped, but instead I headed out the door and around the corner in my pajama pants.
As I called Charlee's name, she came running back to me. Justee followed close behind with one shoe on yelling, "mommy, mommy!"
"What are you doing Charlee?!"
Full of attitude and with a scowl on her face Char replied, "Well, I wanted to go to Jayden's house and YOU wouldn't let me!"
"First of all, you are not even going the right way to Jayden's. Second, you do NOT go out the front door without me!" (I don't know why I felt like I had to tell her she was going the wrong way. Like that was important enough to be my 'first of all'.)

After we got home, I explained to Charlee the dangers of what she did, and then I made her sit on a chair until I told her she could get up. I really didn't get that mad at her because I felt I was more to blame than she was, but as she sat in timeout she mumbled things like, "I hate Mommy. I just like daddy. Daddy is the only nice one. I hate Sydnee, I hate Mommy, I hate Justee. I only like Daddy. I just want Daddy to come home."

I have been really good about locking my front door when we are home because Justee can open it and she has slipped out once before, but I obviously overlooked The Chuck's ability to unlock the door. Ahh! I hope all 4 of us make it through this year. ;)

The day did get a little better when a neighbor brought over a plate of cookies this evening. :)

Carpet Omelet

I was upstairs on the phone when I went to check on Charlee and Justee, I looked over my balcony and saw this all over my living room floor:

Immediately Char blamed Justee, not that I doubt the little stinker did it, but why didn't you stop her Char?!?! I spent some time scrubbing all the spots on the floor, but I can still see bits of yellow in the spots. Who knew eggs would stain?



Besides making carpet omelets, another one of Justee's recent pastimes is putting stickers on the pets. She covered Dozer in stickers and then took them all off leaving just this one next to his tail. Apparently, she decided less is more.

(Dozer is chewing on his toy that was supposed to be tough. He had it torn up and the insides ripped out in less than a day.)

I'll have to give her an 'A' for effort when it came to the cat. She tried and tried to get a sticker on Cash, but he was not going to let Justee make him look as stupid as the dog.
I put an end to the sticker fun when Justee tried to put a sticker directly on Dozer's...um...real bum. ;)

Talking to Daddy

The girls always look forward to when they get to talk with their Dad on the phone. He calls everyday, but sometimes he doesn't get to until the girls are already in bed.
Justee gets on the phone and just starts babbling. She says some real words, but mostly she just blabbers on and on (maybe she knows what she is saying, but we sure don't.) She says "Hi Daddy" in the sweetest, cutest voice. I'll tell her it is time to say goodbye and she does, then she hands me the phone and immediately starts crying for it back. In order for me to get to talk to him he has to call back after the girls are in bed. :)

It has been 4 weeks since the girls have seen their Daddy.

Movie and Shopping

We had a fun Saturday. We went to Madagascar II with the Nicholls family. It was a cute movie and I liked it a lot better than the first one. I was nervous about Justee, but she did really good for the first half of the movie; she sat and watched and pointed and laughed. After about halfway through she started getting antsy and wanted to run around. I kept trying to make her stay on my lap, but she wouldn't. Then she went to Cherelle and sat on her lap just fine. After about 10 mins of sitting with Cherelle, she fell asleep.

After the movie we went to do some shopping. Sydnee doesn't have a pair of jeans without holes in the knees, so that was the main thing I needed; but of course, we didn't stop there. ;) Syd got 4 pairs of pants and 3 shirts. Charlee got 2 shirts and a hat. Justee got a sweater, a dress, a coat and a hat. The girls always like to model their new clothes once we get home. They were excited to take pics so Daddy could see some of their clothes. :)

Syd loves these pants because they sparkle:

Justee was trying to take Chuck's hat off: Justee has a thing for chewing on her hands right now. I am always pulling her hands out of her mouth.

I love getting warm sweaters and things for winter. Now I just need to schedule a babysitter and go get some for me. :)

Letter to Santa

The girls were discussing their wish-lists for Christmas tonight during story-time. Charlee told me she wanted some puppy thing (not sure what she meant.) Then she looked up at me and asked, "Can we call Santa and tell him what I want?"

"Um...no, but you can write him a letter."

Charlee gasped in excitement, "A letter?! Yay!"

Then she jumped off the couch and headed straight to the paper and crayons.

She colored for a little while and then she came back for stories...I think she totally forgot the purpose of her drawing.

A Beeping Heart

Sydnee came into my bathroom to get her hair fixed for school the other morning, and after the run up the stairs she said, "I can hear my heart beeping!" I kinda laughed and said, "You mean beating?"

Sydnee laughed and said, "What? Bea-ting? That sounds silly mom!"

A Fitting Showcase

Last night Sydnee put the first row of stars on our flag. I had a little trouble letting her do it...I wanted to make sure they were all evenly spaced and straight. I quickly decided that the point of this project was to let the girls do it, and it would add to the charm of the flag if they weren't all perfect...So, I let her put them on with minimal coaching.

Charlee added the 29th star today.
Here is the up-to-date flag. I have the blue portion of the flag blocked off, so that the space is saved and the stripes will be kept straight.

.....Only 12 stripes left.....

Last night was Sydnee's 1st grade Showcase. They did a cute little patriotic program.

They sang songs like "God Bless America," "This Land is My Land," "Yankee Doodle," "Lady Liberty," and a few others that I can't think of right now.

Sydnee had a lot of fun and she did a great job, they all did. I videoed it, but I can't put it on until I finalize the disc and it isn't full yet, so I might add it later.

I'm so excited!

Ok, so there are several things I have lined up to blog about, but this takes precedence...

I heard that when you are dealing with a long time separation, you should measure how far you've come, not how long you have left. So I wanted to come up with something that the girls would enjoy to keep track of how long Justin has been gone.

My first idea was to find something (had no idea what really) and put numbered vinyl stickers on it everyday. Then when we got to 365 Justin would be home. One of my friends (Abbey) owns a home decor store that specializes in all things Vinyl (at least that's my interpretation. I would put a link to a web page here, but I'm not sure she has one since her store opened. Abbey if you do, let me know the address. :) Anyway...I approached Abbey with my idea and then told her I thought I would like to frame a flag and put the stickers on the glass. She did me one better and said that she could make the stickers in the shape of stars with the numbers in the middle of the stars. Then she said what if the stickers made the flag? That sounded great to me; she emailed me a pic of what the stars would look like and I went out and found the perfect piece of wood. I found wood paneling that had little lines in it already, so I thought it would make it easier for the girls to keep the stickers in the right place. Abbey's husband Larry cut the paneling to the right size, and I picked everything up from Abbey's store today.

I'll stop talking about it now and just show you the pics.

The wood:

This gives you the idea of what it will look like, only the stripes will only be one row of stars.

Here are the cute stars.

Abbey had to figure out the right dimensions to get 365 stars to fit perfectly on the flag and then she had to weed all the numbers out of every star. I'm sure it was time consuming and a pain in the butt, but she did this and didn't charge me. She wasn't at the store when I picked it up, but I was informed that she just wanted to do this for me. She didn't have to do that, but I want to tell her thank you, so much. I'm so grateful for her input and great ideas; plus the time and energy that she put into it. I really appreciate it Abbey!

I'm so excited to get this started, but even more excited to get it finished. I wanted the last 50 numbered stars to be the blue ones, so it will be so fun to finish off that last part of the flag! I get to start it off with 28 stars already. Once I get them on I will post another picture.

2 Weeks!

It is officially 2 weeks until Justin gets to come home. I am so excited. He has been gone for over 3 weeks and now we are in the home stretch. I'm so glad that he gets to come home before heading overseas. The downside is that it will be much harder to say goodbye again.

But until that time comes...there are only happy thoughts! :)

I Love these...

One of my favorite things about this season............................................................................... ....................................................................................................................Pomegranates.

Great Friends

After seeing the post where I vented about my stupid dog, some friends came to the rescue. Josh and Trish came over to fix my dog-chewed fence. To top it all off, Josh fixed our chair! Our chair has been missing its springs for years now (a couple of plastic crates have been placed under the cushion to hold it up. Sad really) Josh threw in some expertly placed wood and viola! It is good as new.
I didn't get any pics of him fixing the fence, but he did a great job. It would take Dozer a whole month of non-stop chewing to get through that fence and I still don't think he could get out (well at least from the spot Josh fixed.)
Here is Josh fixing (you can see Trish peeking in to give Josh some pointers. We all know she is the brains behind the operation. ;) and then enjoying the chair.


Thanks again you guys! You are amazing!

Sunday Events

Last night I had a knock at my door; it was my neighbor and her mother-in-law. The mother-in-law was looking for a ride for her husband and herself to church (my neighbors aren't members, but the man's parents are.) Of course I couldn't turn them down, which also meant that my debating about whether or not to go to stake conference was over...I was going to sit through all 2 hours without Justin's help with the girls. (better get used to it, eh?)

It really was a blessing for me. I enjoyed our broadcast and the strangers' company. It was pretty neat to see a complete stranger holding Justee and just helping out with the girls in general. They ended up being a huge help, and my girls were really well behaved...It must have been fun for them to have "new" people to sit with at church. The only downside was that Charlee was pretty upset that she wasn't going to get to go to nursery.

In times like today, with so much wickedness and turmoil in the world, it is easy to focus on all the bad out there. It is nice to be reminded that good people, who are trying their hardest to do what is right, do still exist.

After church the girls decorated some snowflakes with glitter:

Holy Brat!

Sydnee had a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese today, so I thought I'd take Char to get a haircut after we dropped Sydnee off. Charlee does not like the idea of getting her hair cut. She kept telling me that it isn't long enough to get it cut. I have to disagree...when you are getting everything from toothpaste to food caught in it, it is long enough to get it cut. I love Charlee's hair and so I didn't want to cut it too short. I kept assuring Char that we wouldn't get it cut very much. She didn't care...She sat in that chair with her chin to her chest and would not look up. The lady cutting her hair and I kept asking her to look up, but she wouldn't. I had to keep lifting her chin and holding it for a few seconds until Char would force it back down. At one point, the lady told Charlee to "look at your mom." Char closed her eyes tight and lifted her head a little. Now I've seen stubborn before, and I thought Sydnee was stubborn at 3, but never have I seen the likes of Chuck. She is soooo stubborn.

I have no idea where she gets it from.

before and after:

Disciplining your child in public is a lot harder than disciplining at home. It is like a whole other ball game. It is very apparent that children are aware of this as well. As soon as Charlee got home, she turned into a sweet girl again. I didn't have to beg her to stand still for a pic and she even forced a smile without me asking her to. She also suddenly wanted to give me lots of hugs and pretend that the "situation" at the salon did not take place.

I don't know what I am going to do with this girl.

On another note...I told the girls that I was sending Justin a package and if they wanted to draw him a pic, they could. This is a picture Syd drew and a letter she wrote:

I was pretty impressed that she came up with it and drew it all on her own.

Something I remembered...

A couple days ago, Sydnee's friend came running into the house from playing outside and informed me, "Charlee just said the 'H' word!"
I was very sceptical, seeing as I was pretty sure Charlee didn't know what the 'H' word was. I called Sydnee and Charlee in and asked what was going on. I have to admit my first thoughts were, if Charlee did say the 'H' word she must have heard it from Sydnee's friend...especially because my girls wouldn't know to call it the 'H' word to begin with.
After some prying I got Charlee to repeat what she had said....
"What the heck?"
Yep, Syd and her friend verified that Charlee had been saying "What the heck?!" all day.

Now, I would hate to sound like there is no way my girls would hear a bad word; (I just knew something didn't sound right about that situation) especially after Sydnee's explosion at Wal-Mart when she was barely 2...I better share this shameful story now too...just so I remember what not to say in front of little kids. ;)

Justin, Syd, and I were walking through Wal-Mart when Justin, for a reason I can't remember, said, "Son of a..." He left the phrase unfinished, but that was ok because Sydnee finished it for him. She excitedly said the last word of that phrase (and it wasn't gun.) Justin and I looked at each other with shocked expressions, and then we busted out laughing...not that it should be funny...
At seeing such a great response to her choice of words, Sydnee began to yell, yes yell, that word over and over and over again. Justin and I made many failed attempts to quiet her...I guess when you are laughing while you say "No, no." and "Stop it, it isn't funny." kids don't take you seriously. After we got control of ourselves, we managed to get Sydnee's mind on something else and she stopped talking about female dogs.
Needless to say Justin and I were both more aware of what we said in front of her from then on.

A Postivie & A Negative

I've been thinking that I need to document that Charlee no longer sleeps in pull-ups. She has been out of them for over 3 weeks now. Woohoo! It was hard for me to get her out of them because she was very unpredictable...Sydnee never really peed at night; even before she was potty-trained, she stayed dry all night. So as soon as she was in panties, she was in them 24/7. Charlee, on the other hand, was almost always wet in the morning. The other thing about Chuck is that she didn't always wake up if she wet herself, so I preferred to keep her in pull-ups.

(I'm writing this stuff for personal records, I know most aren't interested in the bathroom routines of my children.)

The sad thing is that Char had her first accident since being pull-up free a couple nights ago. This morning as I was gathering up dirty clothes I noticed a pillow in the corner of her room. It had gotten...um, offended in the accident. This particular pillow is probably older than me. I have had it and loved it since I can remember. It was a down pillow and was the only one I ever slept on...until about the last 5 years; then the girls inherited it. I have to keep 3 pillow cases on it to keep the feathers from flying everywhere and it is much smaller than it used to be. There was no sense in saving it anymore. There was no way to wash it and I guess it was it's time to go. I said my farewells and laid it to rest in the garbage can. :( Even though I haven't slept with it for a while, it was sad to let it go.

Of course, I can't include baby pics of two children and leave out the third...So, here is Sydnee at 7 months.

Conversation with Chuck

While we were in the car today, Charlee once again asked about her Dad. She has been asking about him for the past 5 or 6 days. I am a little surprised by this because Sydnee is the biggest Daddy's girl and she hasn't asked that much...I think it is because she understands time a little better and knows that it just isn't time for him to come home yet.

Anyway, this is how the conversation went:

C- When is Daddy coming home?

Me- He will be home in 3 weeks.

C- That is a long time huh? Daddy will be gone for a long, long, long time, huh?

Me- Yep, but he will be home in 3 weeks for a few days, and that isn't too far away.

C- I wish Daddy would come home right now.

Me- Daddy wishes he could come home right now too.

C- Does Sydnee wish Daddy would come home right now too?

Me- I'm sure she does.

C- Does Justee wish he would come home?

Me- Yep.

C- Do you want Daddy to come home?

Me- Yep.

C- I just love Daddy. Do you love Daddy?

Me-Yes, I love him a lot.

C- Me too!

Because I included an old pic of Justee yesterday, I thought I'd throw in an old pic of Charlee today. She is 10 months old in this pic. She was such a little chub.

At least I gained an hour...

I am out doing some shopping, having a nice time. Char and Justee are behaving themselves...for the most part. I have a couple more stops to make, but I look at the clock in the car and see that I don't have time to get those stops made before Sydnee gets home. I decide to go home, wait for Sydnee, and then go back out.
Hmmm...I get home unload what I have already purchased and look at the clock in the house.
Dang it! I still haven't changed the clock in the car since DLS! I could have easily finished my errands before Syd got home. Stupid Clock. Stupid DLS.






I just thought I'd throw in this picture

of Justee at 3 months old. She has been growing so fast. A lot has changed since this pic was taken.

I Voted!

I did what every red-blooded American should do on election day (unless you are voting for the other guy, in which case I suggest you stay home ;) ...I voted!

Yard Work

Yesterday I got a lot of work done. We raked up a bunch of leaves that did not fall from the tiny tree in our yard, pulled weeds and put patio furniture away. Char and Justee had a lot of fun "helping" me. Charlee did a great job putting the leaves into the bag, after she had her fun.

I have been threatening Justin that I'm going to give Dozer away. I just have to say that even though Dozer drives me crazy, I would never give him away...I'd at least try to sell him...jk. Don't worry Justin, you won't come home to find that I got rid of your dog. In spite of all the things I don't like about him, he is a good dog and the girls and I would miss him. :)

Plus, I've never been able to go long without having a dog around (actually Justin and I have had a dog...or two...for our entire marriage-minus the first 3 months.) Despite better judgment, I would probably get rid of Dozer just to get a new puppy that would be 10 times worse.