Nolan went to Corpus Christi this morning. I am very jealous! I love that place and I love Texas. But, I did tell myself that I wanted to get one project done while Nolan was gone this weekend.
Yesterday I got in a cleaning mode and cleaned all the piles on the desk in our family room and on the coffee table. I also cleared all the counters in the kitchen. It felt really good!
Today I started on the real project. It started with me going through both girls' clothes and taking all the small ones to the basement. Then going through all the clothes they just grew out of, all the clothes I had pulled out and sorted before Clara was born but somehow got all mixed up again. I organized, folded and labeled 7 large bins of clothes. All the clothes were on the ping-pong table for about a year now and Nolan really wants his table back so he can play. So, once the basement was organized and extra piles of clothes out of the girls rooms I went to clean the rooms themselves. We have been keeping our house fairly cool this winter. We had a space heater in Clara's room at night and let Lexa have the down comforter. Lexa was still cold and Clara's room still had a queen guest bed in it, so Lexa has been sleeping in Clara's room for a long time now. When Lexa spent the night at her Mimi's house she was complaining that she now cannot sleep without Clara. Well, if we had to decide between the two rooms, I decided that they should share the room with the castle mural and we can have a guest room again. I put Lexa's kitchen set in the basement and her Barbie castle. Then I moved her bed, a shelf and her canopy onto the other side of the room (she wanted to be by the castle on the wall). I also had to move some pictures around. Then I partially took apart the crib so I could move it through the upstairs. I found that I could take off one side and unattach the bottom board. The bottom board then folded up leaving me with a nice U shaped piece of furniture. Well, it fit through the doors but got jammed up on Lexa's new bed position. I tried lifting the corner over and in the process broke a part of the crib that slides up and down. Put everything back together again. The break is against the wall and has a string holding it together. It isnt a big deal and I know Nolan can fix it when he gets home. Then I rearranged the bed in the guest room. And Voila! After almost 7 hours the girls have a cute room together still, we have our guest room back and Nolan has his gnip-gnop table back.
It is amazing that Lexa coughs her head off at night and Clara will sleep right through it all. And sometimes Clara cries a lot at night and Lexa doesnt hear it. I love that!
Then I really had to go to the grocery store. It was pay day and we had no milk, cereal, breakfast bars, eggs, yogurt or bread. So I drug myself and the girls to the store.
Now, does anyone want to come stay in our guest room???
Friday, January 30, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
I stayed home today with Clara while Nolan took Lexa to church. I always ask Lexa what she learned in church today or what she did in school. Nolan teaches Elders Quorum and had a talk printed out with some notes. While getting out of the car after church Lexa told Nolan to be sure not to throw away his notes so that when mom asked what we learned in church today he would be able to show her. This probably stems from the 'weird' conversation we had a few weeks ago (ref. adventures in church blog).
Last weekend we went to Longmont and got new tires for our van. The steering wheel had been shaking back and forth very badly and we discovered the tires were bad. While at Walmart, we bought Guitar Hero World Tour with some gift certificates Nolan had built up. We drove home with Uncle Caleb (his last weekend in Colorado) and we played until 4 am. We are so addicted. Most nights as soon as the girls are in bed, Nolan and I are playing it, that is when Nolan is actually here. He started school this week at Colorado State University to get his masters degree. He also directed the Pinewood Derby in our ward.
Last Friday I met my friend Katie and her kids at the Ft Collins mall to play and have lunch. Ever since Lexa was a little baby the play place at the malls will make her really sick. Well, no exception this time. Tuesday she had a fever on and off until Thursday. Now Clara and I are suffering through a sore throat. It serves me right for sharing a cup in the bathroom and not ever thinking about the consequences!!
Last weekend we also got a mini-vacation as a family. Our friends the Pippins invited us to spend the night and play games until all hours of the night. We played a little bit of everything and had a great time. The next day we all went to eat at the Big Red Chicken ,otherwise known as Red Robin, and then to our house to play some more. It was Martin Luther King Jr day so Nolan and Alan had the day off work and their boys had the day off school. I assumed Lexa had the day off until I got a call from the school asking why she wasnt there. I asked why there was even school that day! She ended up being sick the rest of the week anyway.
On Thursday her friend Lydia had a Fancy Nancy birthday party. All the girls dressed up and had a great time. I took Clara to the park to swing so she wouldnt tear down the party. She had never been on swings before. I thought she looked bored after a while so I took her out to play on something else, and she screamed her head off to get back in the swing! It was a fight when we finally left the playground but now we know what our next buy will be, a baby swing for our playset!
Also, Nolan is a very busy guy these days so I have been trying to get in a mindset of not waiting for him to do things around the house and that I can do things just as well. So I am taking out our trash, emptying the dishwasher, stuff like that. But I also took down all the Christmas decorations, took the heavy boxes back down to the basement, put the tree away. I even moved the TV from our bedroom into the basement so we can watch it while on our new treadmill down there. I even figured out where all the satelite cables went to and hooked the one from our room back up downstairs. And then I put the new dog food in our bucket and took the old bag out (its really heavy and I dont have the best back) but I did it and it was fine. I hope Nolan doesnt feel like he is not needed here anymore, because he totally is!! But it is kind of liberating realizing that I can do a lot of things myself.
Clara and I woke up sick on Saturday (Clara was probably sick on Friday too. If only babies could talk and tell us these things!). Lexa and dad spent the entire day running erands and fixing up things. She told him that she doesnt know what we would do without him, nothing would get fixed! She also told him that I was especially pretty when we got married with my yellow hair. She said brown hair is annoying (I dyed it brown last week). She also was playing with Nolan this morning and found an empty tube, probably from a Christmas wrapping, and wanted to make a rain stick because she had seen that project while watching Sprout. She is so smart sometimes!!
Last Friday I met my friend Katie and her kids at the Ft Collins mall to play and have lunch. Ever since Lexa was a little baby the play place at the malls will make her really sick. Well, no exception this time. Tuesday she had a fever on and off until Thursday. Now Clara and I are suffering through a sore throat. It serves me right for sharing a cup in the bathroom and not ever thinking about the consequences!!
Last weekend we also got a mini-vacation as a family. Our friends the Pippins invited us to spend the night and play games until all hours of the night. We played a little bit of everything and had a great time. The next day we all went to eat at the Big Red Chicken ,otherwise known as Red Robin, and then to our house to play some more. It was Martin Luther King Jr day so Nolan and Alan had the day off work and their boys had the day off school. I assumed Lexa had the day off until I got a call from the school asking why she wasnt there. I asked why there was even school that day! She ended up being sick the rest of the week anyway.
On Thursday her friend Lydia had a Fancy Nancy birthday party. All the girls dressed up and had a great time. I took Clara to the park to swing so she wouldnt tear down the party. She had never been on swings before. I thought she looked bored after a while so I took her out to play on something else, and she screamed her head off to get back in the swing! It was a fight when we finally left the playground but now we know what our next buy will be, a baby swing for our playset!
Also, Nolan is a very busy guy these days so I have been trying to get in a mindset of not waiting for him to do things around the house and that I can do things just as well. So I am taking out our trash, emptying the dishwasher, stuff like that. But I also took down all the Christmas decorations, took the heavy boxes back down to the basement, put the tree away. I even moved the TV from our bedroom into the basement so we can watch it while on our new treadmill down there. I even figured out where all the satelite cables went to and hooked the one from our room back up downstairs. And then I put the new dog food in our bucket and took the old bag out (its really heavy and I dont have the best back) but I did it and it was fine. I hope Nolan doesnt feel like he is not needed here anymore, because he totally is!! But it is kind of liberating realizing that I can do a lot of things myself.
Clara and I woke up sick on Saturday (Clara was probably sick on Friday too. If only babies could talk and tell us these things!). Lexa and dad spent the entire day running erands and fixing up things. She told him that she doesnt know what we would do without him, nothing would get fixed! She also told him that I was especially pretty when we got married with my yellow hair. She said brown hair is annoying (I dyed it brown last week). She also was playing with Nolan this morning and found an empty tube, probably from a Christmas wrapping, and wanted to make a rain stick because she had seen that project while watching Sprout. She is so smart sometimes!!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Today I was out in the foyer at church during sacrament meeting with Clara. Her arm slipped while she was crawling and her face bonked the floor. She screamed so I held her to try to calm her down. After a few minutes I looked at her and her face was covered in blood!! We ran to the bathroom and after cleaning most of the blood away I could see that her two little teeth on the bottom had been jammed into her gums on the top. So we went through the rest of church with blood all over my WHITE sweater and her dress. She was pretty good the rest of the day but is now having a really hard night and crying every 30 minutes or so. We are giving her ibuprofen and teething tablets. Probably be on a soft diet for a few days.
After getting home we asked Lexa what she learned today. Her response, as usual, was that she didnt remember. After telling her good, we didnt want to hear about it anyway, she then told us what she had learned. Then we had to go into this whole lecture about what is lying and why it is bad, and how she shouldnt lie to her parents. Later, before bed, she stubbed her toe and said she was having such a hard day! I asked her what was so hard about it. She said, "I hit my toe, I'm tired, I had to have a weird conversation..." My response, "Wait, what weird conversation?" "Ya know, the one about lying?" I couldnt help it but laugh. Then I tried to tell her we were trying to help her become a better person, then she said she had to have two weird conversations in one day.
Then we were reading her bedtime book and I sometimes will change a word in a sentance to see if she is paying attention. She knows the books by heart and always knows the right word that I should be saying. So tonight I asked her what if all the other times I was reading it wrong and tonight I was finally reading it right? She looked at me and said, "If you really did that , it would be Really... unusual."
She cracks us up!
After getting home we asked Lexa what she learned today. Her response, as usual, was that she didnt remember. After telling her good, we didnt want to hear about it anyway, she then told us what she had learned. Then we had to go into this whole lecture about what is lying and why it is bad, and how she shouldnt lie to her parents. Later, before bed, she stubbed her toe and said she was having such a hard day! I asked her what was so hard about it. She said, "I hit my toe, I'm tired, I had to have a weird conversation..." My response, "Wait, what weird conversation?" "Ya know, the one about lying?" I couldnt help it but laugh. Then I tried to tell her we were trying to help her become a better person, then she said she had to have two weird conversations in one day.
Then we were reading her bedtime book and I sometimes will change a word in a sentance to see if she is paying attention. She knows the books by heart and always knows the right word that I should be saying. So tonight I asked her what if all the other times I was reading it wrong and tonight I was finally reading it right? She looked at me and said, "If you really did that , it would be Really... unusual."
She cracks us up!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
I just looked and Lexa doesnt go back to school until Tuesday. We could definitely use at least one day to relax. My dad picked us up from the airport on Friday. We met my mom and brother Caleb at the exit to Longmont. We ate dinner then traded Lexa for Uncle Caleb. We went home and watched football while Lexa spent the night with Mimi. We drove to Longmont to exchange people again but discovered the reason for the slowly leaking front passenger tire (a nail). The Walmart in Longmont did not have a wait. We got home around 4:45 then went to the Pippins house for dinner and games at 5:15. We put the girls to bed there and played games for hours. Alan got a new game for Christmas that none of us had played before. It was called Puerto Rico. It is a little daunting trying to learn a complicated game that no one had ever played before. But we eventually got the hang of it and I REALLY wanted to play it after church today. It was fun.
This was the first Sunday of the year, so Lexa is now a CTR 6. She was very excited about that. I had been her teacher this year so it was a little lonely going to class without her, but I made it. There were three classes her age and only 3 girls in all the classes, so 1 girl per class. Made the girls a little lonely. Happily they put Lexa in a class this year with her friend Sydney. It was also the first Sunday in about 2 1/2 years that I wasnt teaching. My first calling was 15 year old Sunday school, then Laurel advisor, then Primary teacher. Now I am the activity day girls helper. That is only two days a month, usually on Wed from 4-5. It might be little tricky finding someone to watch the girls, but I'm sure the Lord will provide a way :). I will also be helping out with the music time in Primary when our choraster is sick (she is pregnant). Nolan still is the Elders Quorum teacher and is now the Cub Master. The advice he got from the bishopric was that if your wife rolls her eyes at your jokes, they are perfect for the cub scouts. Nolan was meant for this job!!!! haha.
Of course it is the new year and most of us have goals we are working on. The most popular and the most failed (I think) resolution is of course the weight loss goal!! Nolan and I agree that it should be a big priority in our lives and look forward to being more healthy.
This was the first Sunday of the year, so Lexa is now a CTR 6. She was very excited about that. I had been her teacher this year so it was a little lonely going to class without her, but I made it. There were three classes her age and only 3 girls in all the classes, so 1 girl per class. Made the girls a little lonely. Happily they put Lexa in a class this year with her friend Sydney. It was also the first Sunday in about 2 1/2 years that I wasnt teaching. My first calling was 15 year old Sunday school, then Laurel advisor, then Primary teacher. Now I am the activity day girls helper. That is only two days a month, usually on Wed from 4-5. It might be little tricky finding someone to watch the girls, but I'm sure the Lord will provide a way :). I will also be helping out with the music time in Primary when our choraster is sick (she is pregnant). Nolan still is the Elders Quorum teacher and is now the Cub Master. The advice he got from the bishopric was that if your wife rolls her eyes at your jokes, they are perfect for the cub scouts. Nolan was meant for this job!!!! haha.
Of course it is the new year and most of us have goals we are working on. The most popular and the most failed (I think) resolution is of course the weight loss goal!! Nolan and I agree that it should be a big priority in our lives and look forward to being more healthy.
Friday, January 2, 2009
- We were playing a game called Apples to Apples. An adjective gets laid on the table by someone and everyone has about 7 cards to choose from that would fit that adjective. For example, our friend Lane laid down the card with the word hopeless and was given the cards falling in love, going to the gym, lawyers and marriage (he suffers from all these ailments).
- I asked Lexa if she had any dreams the night before. Her response was, "It seems as if I am dreamless nowadays".
- Auntie Ana asked Lexa if her friend Katie was coming over for the New Years Eve party. Lexa said, "She is, in fact, spending the night". Just the grown up way she says things crack us up!
- I asked Lexa if she had any dreams the night before. Her response was, "It seems as if I am dreamless nowadays".
- Auntie Ana asked Lexa if her friend Katie was coming over for the New Years Eve party. Lexa said, "She is, in fact, spending the night". Just the grown up way she says things crack us up!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
December was a crazy month. It seemed like I couldnt find two minutes to sit down and write. Nolan had about a million Christmas concerts. He actually had a few carolling nights and 5 shows with the Colorado Mormon Choral and the Denver Pops Orchestra. That was awesome and amazing to hear them sing. My grandma said their first number, Joy to the World, was overwhelming. I am SO proud of Nolan. Lexa and I went to see her dance studio perform the Nutcracker. The Sugar Plum Fairy was from Ballet West, along with her Cavalier. It was really good and Lexa is determined to be in it next year. We had more fun game nights with our friends the Pippins, and watched CSU win and BYU lose. I threw a fun surprise party for my friend. It was fun getting people to my house from all over Colorado and still be a surprise. We ate a lot, played a lot of Wii and saw the Parade of Lights in Longmont, complete with fireworks at the end. I finished two baby quilts and scanned about 1500 + pictures. I started a project as a Christmas present to my family. It didnt get completed, but I am scanning all our family photos and putting them on a DVD for everyone. 3-5 pictures at a times takes a little while to do. I gave up on 600 resolution and went to 300. It goes a lot faster that way.
I actually got around to making English Toffee this year, a family tradition. The last few years my toffee has had the butter completely seperate out and couldnt figure out what was wrong. My wise grandma told me to get a new candy thermometer. So I did and made a batch with the new and old thermometer. Turns out the old thermometer was about 50 degrees off!! I was totally burning it. Well, now it has turned out well. We went to Washington state on Christmas day to be with Nolans family. I made a batch of the Toffee here and everyone ate it for breakfast toffee, after breakfast toffee, lunch toffee etc.... It was gone in about a day. I also made spritz cookies at home that turned out for the first time with my cookie press. Nolan and Lexa made pizzelles, some chocolate and some vanilla and almond flavored.
Since we flew out on Christmas day, Santa came a day early to our house. On the 23rd, my family came to our house for Christmas dinner. It turned out very well. Then they all spent the night, except Caleb because he had to work in the morning. The next morning, on the 24th, we opened all of the presents. We got great and wonderful things. Lexa loves her new Hannah Montana guitar game, but I'm not sure if Nolan was having more fun than her on it! Christmas Day was crazy at the airport. Apparently everyone has caught on to flying on that day. I was very nervous about flying with a 9 month old on my lap. Clara has learned to crawl and pull herself up on things this last month. She slept for a little while and played with Nolan and Lexa the rest of the flight and did fine. Now one more trip back tomorrow then I can stop worrying! Life in Washington is always interesting and fun. Its always a challenge getting people from different families and different backgrounds to always get along. Nolan and I had a small yet significant disagreement with someone else in the family that made things not so fun for a little while, but people go home eventually :). We played games at a friends house, have eaten out at The Shainghi and Red Lobster, watched Benjamin Button, Quantum of Solace and Bedtime Stories at the theaters and had fun playing and hanging out. Marilyn makes a great layout of food for New Years Eve. We played Carcassan and Settlers of Catan and ate until we were bursting. Nolan and I won the doubles ping-pong tournament. Lexa had her friend from across the street, Katie, sleep over in Grandma's attic. They did really well.
Today Lexa went ice skating and Nolan is out golfing right now. It will be good to get home to our own house but at the same time it is nice to just have no worries (like laundry, dishes, cleaning etc) and just be able to play and be with my girls. We also found out that Clara is the spitting image of Nolan's sister Sherisa. It is a little scary how much they look alike.
Hope everyone has a great New Year!!
I actually got around to making English Toffee this year, a family tradition. The last few years my toffee has had the butter completely seperate out and couldnt figure out what was wrong. My wise grandma told me to get a new candy thermometer. So I did and made a batch with the new and old thermometer. Turns out the old thermometer was about 50 degrees off!! I was totally burning it. Well, now it has turned out well. We went to Washington state on Christmas day to be with Nolans family. I made a batch of the Toffee here and everyone ate it for breakfast toffee, after breakfast toffee, lunch toffee etc.... It was gone in about a day. I also made spritz cookies at home that turned out for the first time with my cookie press. Nolan and Lexa made pizzelles, some chocolate and some vanilla and almond flavored.
Since we flew out on Christmas day, Santa came a day early to our house. On the 23rd, my family came to our house for Christmas dinner. It turned out very well. Then they all spent the night, except Caleb because he had to work in the morning. The next morning, on the 24th, we opened all of the presents. We got great and wonderful things. Lexa loves her new Hannah Montana guitar game, but I'm not sure if Nolan was having more fun than her on it! Christmas Day was crazy at the airport. Apparently everyone has caught on to flying on that day. I was very nervous about flying with a 9 month old on my lap. Clara has learned to crawl and pull herself up on things this last month. She slept for a little while and played with Nolan and Lexa the rest of the flight and did fine. Now one more trip back tomorrow then I can stop worrying! Life in Washington is always interesting and fun. Its always a challenge getting people from different families and different backgrounds to always get along. Nolan and I had a small yet significant disagreement with someone else in the family that made things not so fun for a little while, but people go home eventually :). We played games at a friends house, have eaten out at The Shainghi and Red Lobster, watched Benjamin Button, Quantum of Solace and Bedtime Stories at the theaters and had fun playing and hanging out. Marilyn makes a great layout of food for New Years Eve. We played Carcassan and Settlers of Catan and ate until we were bursting. Nolan and I won the doubles ping-pong tournament. Lexa had her friend from across the street, Katie, sleep over in Grandma's attic. They did really well.
Today Lexa went ice skating and Nolan is out golfing right now. It will be good to get home to our own house but at the same time it is nice to just have no worries (like laundry, dishes, cleaning etc) and just be able to play and be with my girls. We also found out that Clara is the spitting image of Nolan's sister Sherisa. It is a little scary how much they look alike.
Hope everyone has a great New Year!!
