Snow Day

I have a few things to catch up on...Syd and Char had their last day of swimming yesterday, and I want to post some pics of my parent's house and talk about my stressful morning...
I think I will start with my morning while it is fresh in my mind.


I usually like Spring snow because it is wet and makes great snowmen and it doesn't stay long...Today's snow was different.
I got up and got Syd to school and headed to the gym...after my workout and shower, I picked Char and Justee up from the day care there. As I was walking out the door, I heard a lady saying that she just got a message from her kid's school saying that all the schools were letting the kids out. I had forgotten my cell, so I kind of panicked and hurried out to my car. After all the detours because of closed roads with cars stuck on them (I'm grateful for my 4-wheel drive) and bumper to bumper traffic, it took me an hour and 5 mins to get home...a drive that usually takes 10-15 mins. To make matters worse, Justee screamed for the last half hour of the drive...She wanted me to hold her "put" (foot.) I tried calmly explaining that I needed both hands on the wheel to drive in this sort of weather, but she just didn't get it...so...I had to result to screaming back at her...umm...that didn't really help either.
Once I got home and listened to my messages, I found out that Cherelle had picked Sydnee up along with her son and she was bringing her home...I'm so glad Cherelle was able to help me out.

Now we are all home and drinking a nice cup of cocoa...It is so nice to get to relax for the rest of the day...I need a nap.

Back to Reality

Justin has been getting after me for letting the blog go too long without being updated...I'm gradually getting back into the flow of life after Spring Break, so posts should come more frequently now.
Justin had asked my bro-in-law to let Vicki come spend some time with me. Jake obliged and sent Vicki my way...We talked about when would be a good time for her to come and decided that since my parents are moving out of their house, Spring Break would be a good week for her to come...Then we could head up to Lovell and help my parents out. We spent all week working, and it was nice to get to see that our efforts put (at least) a small dent in our parents workload. Vicki took some pics of our accomplishments..I need to get some from her. My parents home is soooo close to being finished, and I am so excited to get to come for a visit and be able to sit and enjoy it with them (I'm sure they will be happy when they are finished with working from sun-up til sun-down too. :)

It has been a while since I have taken pics of the girls with their grandparents, either set, but my dad isn't the easiest person to get to cooperate when it comes to pictures. So I am glad I at least got a chance to take some of the girls with Justin's parents on our way out of town.

The First Step...or should I say SIT?

Justee actually peed on/in (which ever way you want to say it) her little pink throne just moments ago!

Here she is, doing a little happy dance after her great achievement:

Justee has been sitting on her throne for some time, but she has never actually done her "dooty."
I was changing her diaper when she said, "I nee ta go poddy." I let her up and she went into the bathroom...this happens a lot, so I was a little surprised when I heard the music that this potty makes when wet stuff goes into it...

I went in the bathroom to investigate and found Justee saying, "I did it!" and the proof that Justee had indeed used her potty, in the way it was meant, for the first time...YAY! or wait...am I really ready for this whole potty training business?

Nothing Much

Sydnee had a dentist app. today...good news...no cavities!

On another note, Sydnee has been quite the handful lately. I usually don't have many problems with her, but for the last couple of weeks she has been a little hard of hearing. It seems like everything I say goes in one ear and out the other. I am not the only one who has been noticing this change either...Sydnee got her first note sent home from school. The reason: being disruptive in class. Now this is Sydnee's first infraction and I don't think I would have come down on her hard at all...what I didn't like is that I found it after she tried to not let me see in her backpack, and then the worst part...She had signed TERI on the signature line. Hmmm did she really think that her first grade handwriting would pass as mine??? Apparently she did. (It's a little funnier now then when I found it.) We had a nice long talk about her recent behavior and not to excuse it, but I think it boils down to her needing some more one-on-one attention. Thanks to Justin's suggestion, I plan to take Syd out to do something fun, just the two of us. We'll see if that helps.

Due to lack of real blogging material...I thought I would post a couple of recent pics Justin sent. These are just from a training session at OE.

The Real "Windy City"...well, town

Yesterday the girls and I headed to Casper for their cousin Zack's baptism. I thought it would be fun to stay the night and take the girls swimming. This was the first time I have taken all 3 girls by myself...luckily Syd can swim on her own (I still get nervous and like her to hang on to her noodle anyway, but she kept trying to leave it behind) and Char can swim by herself with floaties, so I mostly had to worry about Justee.

The girls had a blast. Justee loved jumping off of the side and having me catch her. (The sad part about me taking the girls by myself is that I couldn't get pics of Justee because I was always hanging on to her...once she decided she needed a break and got out, I got to take some of the other two.

Charlee had jumped in several times before this, but once I got the camera out, she acted like she was nervous to jump.
The baptism was great...everyone did a great job. Sydnee got to sing with Zack and his other cousins (Charlee was too shy).

Justee had this "deer in headlights" look on her face most the time...I think she was taken off guard by all the people pointing cameras at them.

After the baptism we went to dinner with Shane and Marci and their boys, Marci's parents and her sister's family, and some friends of Shane and Marci's. Then we headed back to the hotel.

Syd and Char kept saying, "I love hotels." over and over.

Justee was pretty pooped after the day's events.

I am so glad we had the opportunity to go to Zack's baptism and visit with friends and family...It was a nice way to spend the weekend.

Star of the Week

This is directly off of the poster that hung just outside of Sydnee's classroom last week...

Sydnee is our "Star of the Week!"

Sydnee is our good friend and we would like to tell you about her.

If she could go anywhere in the world, she would go to Water World.

If she had all the money in the world she'd put a giant water slide in her backyard.

Gold is her favorite color because it's the color of treasure.

Her favorite sea animals are sharks and dolphins.

We thought Sydnee was fun to learn about. Didn't you?

It has been a long week to say the least. I haven't been able to talk to Justin since last Friday. He has been busy and is farther away from phones and internet at OE. He has been able to email a couple of times, and he called on Wed. but I missed it due to the hundreds of lunges I was torturing myself with (my gluteus maximus has never been so sore.) The fact that I missed a much wanted and needed phone call was a sad realization...Speaking of pains in my butt, I have had serious thoughts of dropping Justee off on the side of the road and driving away...ok, not really but close...that girl can scream in the car like no body's business...grow out of it already! Someone needs to invent a sound-proof pod that fits over car seats.

Our Current Events

Sydnee

On our way to the gym last night, Syndee yelled out it pure excitement, "Mom, I have a wiggly tooth! It's true! It is wiggly! Look, Look!"

She has been wanting a loose tooth for a long time now. She is always saying stuff about kids at school who have loose teeth or have lost teeth. Now, Sydnee finally has a loose tooth too. It is her bottom right one, and she is very excited.

Charlee

Charlee comes running inside after playing outside on the tramp...
"Mom, Dodoe is a cockadioh and a cock, and he is chasing us."
Me: "Dozer is a crocodile and a what?"
Chuck: "A cockadioh and a COCK!"
Me: "A cock or a crrroc?"
Chuck: "No a COCK!"
Me: "A duck?"
C: "No! You're not wistining! A Cock!"
Me: "Charlee, you need to say is better because you are saying cock."
She and I are both frustrated at this point so she says, "MOM! dey are boo and dey wiv in the wader and dey have one pointy horn."
Me: "They are blue and they live in the water?"
I had to think about it for a minute and then the "horn" hit me. "Oh! You mean a shark?! Dozer is a crocodile and a shark?"
Char: "Yes a cock!"
Me: "Say SH-AR-K."
Char: "C-AR-K."
Charlee has a VERY hard time with her -sh- sound.

Justee

Every night at bedtime, right after prayers, Justee jumps into my lap and says, "Tee top, tee top!"

She wants me to rock her and sing Rock-a-bye Baby. I guess the line about the tree tops is what she remembers most.

Justee is no longer in possession of a sippy cup for 12 hours a day. I have removed all such cups from our house as of Sat. This is a big step and she has definitely showed me how she feels about it. She has cried for her "ippy" at night and in the car, but there is no going back now. It really hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be...plus she is eating better since she doesn't have a stomach full of milk all day...and peeing less. The positives outweigh the negatives.

Teri

I like to sit in the steam room after a workout...It is a nice way to relax and get some "alone time." There is rarely anyone else in there and I look forward to my peaceful time in the steam room.

Today was a different story...After a few mins of being in there alone, an elderly lady walked in. She coughed a whole bunch and then walked out...leaving behind a wave of "old-lady" perfume and germs. I was left gagging...seriously, is was a strong and wretched smell. The only way to escape it was to use the washcloth that the gym calls a towel, that barely covers my body as it is, to cover my nose. Once the smell cleared (after several mins) I was able to sit back and start relaxing again...I had my eyes closed when I heard the door open...I took a quick glance in the direction of the noise (because that is what you do when you hear something.) Boy was I sorry I did. A fairly large lady was shutting the door behind herself...Ok, I just mentioned that the towels are tiny (I have decided that the point of their size is to encourage you to workout until you become small enough to be covered up by one...this lady has not reached that point yet) and yes, I would prefer you to cover up your front if you have to choose which part to cover, BUT please point the uncovered part in the opposite direction of my face. Today's visit to the steam room was not as enjoyable as previous visits...

Weeping Pussy Willow

Call me crazy...
I LOVE this tree.

Sunday Conversations

On our way home from church today, Charlee told me that, "Heavenly Father loves us all the time...even if we do naughty things...He still loves us."

Then Sydnee saw a guy smoking in the car next to us... "Mom, it is really bad to smoke. That guy shouldn't be smoking."

I agreed with her and explained the consequences of smoking briefly. Then Sydnee started to talk about how you shouldn't talk to strangers...not a related topic exactly, but she just had a safety lesson at school where they talked about going to an adult you know if a stranger ever asks you to go with them etc...

Anyway, Syd was talking about what to do if a bad guy/stranger came up to you, and Charlee interrupted with "And if he is smoking he is really bad, but Heavenly Father loves him anyway...and Jesus loves him too!"

Every time I threaten to cut Chuck's hair she has had a fit about it. I think she just doesn't like going to the salon, because when I said I was going to cut it, she was fine with it...and I think she does really like it; especially after today and all the compliments she got. She has been playing with it and swishing it all day. :)

Snip, Snip, Chop

I'm always complaining about Charlee's hair...things getting caught in it and it getting really tangled, etc.
So, I finally decided I was going to cut it. I was planning on getting a professional to do the cutting, but after a long day of church basketball (in which my YW took second...I keep kicking myself, wondering if I could have done something different...I'm still a little irritated) I didn't feel like going out. SO...I decided to give it a try myself.
This is how long Charlee's hair was before cutting it:

Charlee's hair grows really fast, and I thought that taking 4 inches off wouldn't be that big of a deal. I cut it to the desired length and thought it looked pretty good...then I started cutting Sydnee's hair...Well, while I was cutting Sydnee's, Charlee was cutting Charlee's hair...apparently she didn't think I did a good enough job.
You can see the shorter pieces all throughout her hair:


So...I ended up having to cut it all shorter:

Overall I took off about 7 inches of length...plus I think I will be taking her into a salon...it was hard to go this short and keep it straight. Charlee's hair has not been this short since before she was 18 months old. I'm not sure how I feel about it.

I will add more pics tomorrow after I fix her hair...plus I need to add pics of Sydnee's cut.

A Very Worthwhile Show

I have been watching ABC's Primetime: What Would YOU do? and I have to say that I can't believe how much it has effected me. I have been everything from outraged to saddened to extremely touched by people's compassion. If you haven't seen it, I think it is well worth your time to look into it. I truly think it will change you and how you would react to situations in life.

This show is a hidden camera show of a different kind...it shows people being picked on or mistreated (there are other scenarios as well) all for the purpose of finding out how strangers will react. I like to think that I am a person who stands up for what I believe in, and I hope that I would do the right thing if I ever witnessed any of the things that happen on the show....I think I would have done the right thing in most cases before watching the show, but I know I would now.

So many people look the other way, but it gives me great hope when you see the extraordinary people stop and take action for the good.

Here is a link to a small clip of one of the shows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvzj8wyZ9PI

Justee's Birthday

Justee had a great birthday...It was extra special because Justin got to join us on web cam. It was so nice to have him "here" with us.

We set up our little party in the office so that Justin could see everything.

Justee got a lot of great presents...Dress up clothes and stickers from Grandma and Grandpa Hyde, a card from Thompsons, a Love Dollar from Great Grandma and Grandpa Putnam, a little doggy from Syd, a phone from Charlee, a pig that shakes, and a Dora ball pit. Thank you everyone!

Mom and the Birthday Girl:

Justee needed a little help getting her second candle to go out.

Eating the fish cake:

Justee loves her ball pit...but I don't know what I was thinking....there are balls everywhere. ;)

Here is a couple pics of Justee talking to her Dad...She was blowing him kisses and telling him goodbye.

Justee had had enough with the picture taking...she didn't want me to take anymore, but I wanted to show Grandma what she did with the stickers she got...


Justee in her Snow White dress up stuff:

Justee is acting just like a two year old is supposed to act...She is very good at throwing fits...she has at least 3 breakdowns a day. She is very moody and it seems like she is either very happy or very mad. She can be really sweet when she wants to be, and she gives GREAT hugs. She loves to sing and is singing songs she knows and songs she just makes up all the time. Some of her favorites are Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam (or Sunbeep according to her), and ABC's. She loves to take her diaper off and run around in the buff. She is in the "watch me" phase...she is always doing some trick like jumping off of something or somersaulting and yelling, "Watch me Mommy!" Justee is always playing with my hair...it tends to drive me crazy, but she thinks it belongs to her (just like Sydnee did for her first 4 years of life.) She even holds it in her hand and kisses it. weird, I know...it definitely is her security blanket.

Ever since Justin has been gone, Justee has started crying when I leave her with a babysitter...she used to just say bye, and be fine...I think she has become more attached to me now that I am the only parent around.

Justee is a lot of fun, she makes me laugh everyday...she makes me crazy everyday too, but overall she is worth it. We all love her very much.