Random Pictures

Here are some random pictures I wanted to share and remember.  Enjoy!

Conni is now using my old day bed.  She was so excited to put it together.  She insisted on getting under the bed in the back corner to help dad with the nuts and bolts.  

Before I found her catgirl costume, I found this pattern for a cute crocheted superhero beanie.  It didn't include instructions for the ears, so I just made those up as I went along.  Conni was so excited to wear it - and she shares with Dad so he can be batman sometimes too.  I love how simple the pattern was and how much it made Conni's day when I finished it. 

While I was at work one day, Conni and Grandma went with my sister to help while she had pictures taken of her new baby and all the kids.  While they were there, the other photographer said she needed some practice hours and asked if she could take some shots of Conni. This particular day, I had let Conni have more choices when she got ready - including letting her do her own hair.  Thankfully, Grandma had pulled it back a bit before they left.  

I love how these shots show Conni's personality.  And they were free!!

Pirate Conni in September for my dad's birthday party.  

Dad and Grandpa mowing his back lawn.  

This is a special memory for me.  Conni and I went to visit Dave at work in Orem a few weeks ago.  On the way back, there was a crazy wind storm with tons of debris flying across the road.  I couldn't avoid some and ended up hitting something.  When we got home, I was assessing the damage - a broken running light.  Conni told me she was going inside while I called Dave to inform him and discuss the damage.  I was pretty shaken from the whole thing - the wind storm was insane and I hate driving thru stuff like that.  Then to top it off, the car got hurt on my watch.   Dave and I finished our phone call and I was settled back down and came in from the garage to find this sweet scene. 

My amazing little bug was washing the dishes without any prompting from me.  She told me she wanted to help since I was upset about the car.  She wasn't using any soap, so we filled the sink and she proceeded to wash everything that was in the sink and lay it out to dry.  I was so proud of her!!!

Playing in the Leaves

Here are some pics from our first round of leaf clean up this fall.  Conni LOVED playing in the leaves!  She was very helpful too.  We got her a rake that is just her size.  She kept trying to use it like a snow shovel though, and as soon as we had any kind of a pile she just wanted to play.  So she did!

Conni and Dad using the leaf blower 

Even though there is a leaf directly in front of her face on this picture, its one of my favorites!  She had so much fun!

School

Conni is loving her preschool class.  She is starting to learn our schedule and the days of the week, and she remembers which days are school days.  She loves the different things they do and she is learning so much!  She has grown up so much in the last two months since she started school.  She can sight read all eight color words they have learned.  She can sight read several other words too.  She writes her name very clearly, albeit large, and can write many other letters.  Her "crayon coordination" has drastically improved too.  She loves to draw and regularly draws stick figures and maps and you can tell what a lot of her shapes are supposed to be!  

Dad and Conni practicing letters on the iPad

doing homework

Conni and her teacher Miss Gina at the school Halloween party

Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween this year.  Here are just a few of my favorite pictures and the stories behind them.   

The Witches at Gardner Village

It has become a family tradition to go see the Witches at Gardner Village multiple times throughout the month of October. (Actually, we start going once they are up in September).  Conni loves it and she has a knack for remembering each witch even if they are in different locations.  She also has to see each witch's face and tries to discern what they are thinking or saying.  

Here Conni is doing her catgirl "hi-yah"s while we are out visiting the witches.

Catgirl

Conni has known since early September that she wanted to be catgirl for Halloween.  Not catwoman, catgirl.  She was so excited when her costume arrived in the mail.  She didn't even mind wearing the mask or anything!  

Pumpkin Carving
I took lots more pictures of us carving the pumpkin as a family, but this is one of my favorites.  This is one of my favorite family traditions from my childhood.  Again - notice the catgirl theme?  Mom cleaned it out.  Conni designed the carving.  And Dad did the cutting.  Conni wanted nothing to do with the sticky innards, and she was a little intimidated by the cutting process.  But she really enjoyed the process and we all enjoyed the family time together.

Conni's Well Child Visit Stats

We finally got Conni in last week for her four year old well child checkup.  What can I say - life has been busy.  But I wanted to document her stats her for my records.

Conni is very healthy!  She is hitting all of her developmental milestones.  She spent more time talking to our doctor than I did I think.  She was very excited to go to the doctor and even drew a little picture book last week about our upcoming visit.  (I'll have to find it and post pictures).

When we got there we found out she needed to get booster shots.  She was very brave.  She wasn't nervous for the first one.  Then the other two got harder to handle.  After the third shot, she was done, and luckily that's all we had to do.  She got her bandages on and she told me, "Mom, I'm brave like Merida.  But I don't want any more, ok?"  I was so proud of how well she handled it!

Conni is 42 inches tall, putting her in the 85% for height.  She is 40.6 pounds putting her in the 81% for weight.

I am so grateful that our little bug is so healthy!  And that she isn't scared of the doctor!  On our way home, she said, "Mom, I'm ok to go see Dr. Lee again, as long as he doesn't do any more shots."  I love how much she talks and wants to know what's going on around her.  She was so inquisitive in the office, and asked the doctor if he would check her eyes and ears and everything.  I love my smart, not so little bug!

Now the next question - when will she be taller than me?  :)

Welcoming the Witches

Conni has been asking when the witches would return to Gardner Village since about February.  Well, they finally returned a few weeks ago.  We've gone a couple of times since we first went opening night and she is so excited.  It amazes me that Conni remembers specific witches from last year and where they were posed. She is so focused on finding certain ones.  She loves to look at their faces closely and always asks "what are they saying" or "what are they thinking".  I love her analytic skills!

Here's a couple of pics of us together the first time we went.  Thanks to the random lady that offered to take our family picture together. 

This is one of Conni's favorite times of the year, and I am so excited that we have this fun (and free) tradition to share together. 

Happy Haunting!!

Watching a Thunderstorm

Monday evening we had a fantastic thunderstorm.  Conni and I were watching tv when I first heard the rain and thunder.  I remembered when I was a kid we would go sit on our back covered patio and watch the thunderstorms, and my dad would try to catch cool pictures of the lightening and everything.  I'm ashamed to say it took me about five minutes to say, "well, duh, why am I not taking Conni up to experience this too!"

So we headed upstairs and opened the front door.  Unfortunately we don't have a covered patio like my parents, and with Conni fighting a cough I didn't want us out getting wet.  But we settled on the floor in front of our glass door and watched the rain come down.  

It was very impressive!  The rain was coming down in sheets and the gutters were overflowing, and the thunder was rattling the windows.  (I am a HUGE fan of big thunder like that - I find it very cool!)  Conni did pretty good with the noise of the thunder.  At first she was a little shaken by it, but then she remembered a story that we have called "Thunder Cake" by Patricia Polacco.  (I don't know where it came from, but its on our shelf and its a very good read for kids who are upset by thunder.  In the story, there is a little girl who is frightened by the thunder.  The Grandmother consoles her by telling her that the storm is nothing more than the ingredients for a Thunder Cake.  They work thru making the cake and by the time the storm is passed they are sitting down to a yummy treat. )

Conni really wanted to make a thunder cake, but I didn't have all the ingredients.  So instead we sat and watched and jumped in pretend surprise every time the thunder sounded.  

I love the smell of rain!!  So after a bit watching the rain and hearing the thunder, we propped open the glass door and smelled the rain too.  It was a little breezy, but not too chilly.  But Conni wanted to wrap up in a blanket and cuddle.  I was ok with that!!  She ran to get a blanket while I sat by the wide open front door.  After a minute or two she was asking for help so I went to go see what she was up to.  She was in our bedroom, trying to remove our queen size down comforter so we would have a blanket big enough for both of us to wrap up in.  I somehow convinced her to leave that blanket there and grabbed another from the closet. 

We wrapped up and watched the storm some more and counted in between lightening and thunder.  We talked about clouds and water and where rain comes from.  (I dunno how well I explained it to a four year old, but she was happy with the answer!)

Eventually the storm settled down to just a steady rain.  But we watched the storm for a good 40 minutes together!  I hope we have many more thunderstorms and that Conni and I can cuddle up and watch them and talk together just like I did as a kid with my mom.  It was a very fun evening!

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun

I can't believe I haven't posted in almost two months!!  We have had some really fun adventures this summer that all need to be blogged about.  Dave and I took a fantastic trip to Florida for our 10th anniversary.  Conni got to stay with her cousins and go camping and had a fantastic time.  Someday I will post pictures and more details!  

I got the opportunity to go to girls' camp again this year, and my mom was serving as the Stake Camp director!!  So for the two days I was there we were together, and that was very special for me. 

Conni turned 4!  She had an aDORAble birthday party with friends.  Someday those pictures and details will come too. 

In the meantime, we are getting ready for Conni to start preschool and she is so very excited!  We met her teacher and she just didn't want to leave.  Conni got "upgraded" to a big girl bed this last weekend - my old daybed.  She can barely jump on top cause the mattress is so thick, but she loves it.  She got all new Dora bedding to go along with it too. 

Life for us is going well - busy as ever with work and callings.  But we are having a grand time and enjoying each other.  We have passes to the zoo and the aquarium so we try to go see some animals regularly - depending on schedules and weather.  We are just loving life!!!

I promise, to anyone who still may read this, someday I will be more consistent and some day I will get us all caught up!!!

Stay tuned....

Babyface Dance

I am so behind on posting!  My goal is to catch up this weekend.  We've had so many fun things happen the last few months!  

Conni had two dance recitals - one in April and one in May.  She had so much fun and performed so well! 

I'm sorry the quality is less than ideal.  If you can't tell, Conni is the second girl from the right.  Just look for the curls :)

Dance Competition in April.  They took 2nd place!

Spring Dance Recital in May

We are sad that dance is over, and Conni misses her dance friends.  Hopefully next fall we are able to participate again.  

A huge thank you to Conni's teacher, Jamie, for all her hard work and patience with Conni and her class.  She is such a fun lady and so sweet with these little girls!

Glue Gun Bag

I've been feeling very crafty lately.  Inspired by the flat iron holder I made earlier, I decided to try to make a bag for my hot glue gun.  I previously kept it in a ziplock bag, so I would always have to wait until the gun cooled off to be able to put it away.  Translation - it would sit on the table in my craft room til I got around to cleaning.

So, at walmart I grabbed three pot holders for a dollar each.  Then I grabbed two matching zippers.  I sewed the zippers in first without incident, then tried to sew the three layers of pot holders together.  Um, yeah, I broke a couple of needles.  I tried to sew it by hand, and still managed to break my little needle.  First time ever breaking a needle by hand!  I was very frustrated, so I put the project away half finished.  I hate doing that!

So a day or two later, I decided to revisit the project and see what I could do.  I got a larger needle - like one used for quilting a thick quilt.  Then I decided I would grab my vice grips and see if that helped keep the needle straight enough and give me enough strength to get it thru.  Success!  First time ever sewing with vice grips too, but it turned out great, so that will now be a part of my arsenal.  (And yes, I have my own pair of vice grips.  I kept stealing David's out of the garage for various projects and so he finally got me my own little pair!)

Here is the finished project!  It is working out great!!  I love making new projects that are functional!!

Simplifying our Lives

I saw this on Pinterest this morning and loved it for two reasons:

1.  Look at that cute smile!  I can't help but smile every time I see Sister Hinckley's smile!

2.  I needed to hear it.

Whats for Dinner?

Like so many of you, I dread the question "What's for Dinner?"  We try to plan out our meals for the week before we go grocery shopping, and that helps.  But I hate trying to remember what meals we like and end up repeating the same ones over and over.  I saw this "Weekly Menu Planner" and knew I had to make one for us.  

I printed off several copies of the template provided.  Then I got some clear address labels and printed up our meals.  I also made some for when we go eat with family.  Cut everything out and put magnets on the back.  Then, because our kitchen gets messy - (think exploded spaghetti sauce - just once, but once is enough!) - I covered it all with clear contact paper.  

Finished product:

(Sorry its not the clearest pic - I think I'm due for a new camera!)

I put the extras in a box in the cupboard, so now I can just flip thru the stack and throw it on the fridge.  Then, when life happens and I need to switch things around, its much cleaner than trying to scribble thru a list!

Now, who wants to send me more meal ideas so I can add new ones!

The Master Decorator

Have I mentioned how much I love decorating for the holidays - especially now that Conni enjoys helping me?  Well, I do.  I love it.  It's so much fun for me!!  Conni gets to put up the "stickers" on our glass front door.  And she loves it.  She gets to help me wash it with the "spray" (Windex) and everything. 

I thought I'd do a little recap of how her decorating skills have grown over the last three years. 

Easter 2010 - First time doing "stickers"

Valentines 2011 - Mom helped get them off the paper, but Conni chose where to put them.  And to put them ALL up!

Easter 2012 - Conni recruited Dad to help fill the door. 

Here she's running to get more.  She doesn't need help anymore.

Her finished project

With her tall Daddy helper.

And yes, again, she put every single Easter cling I have on the door.  I tried to convince her to put some on the sliding glass door out to the backyard, but no, they must all stay together.  

But she had fun!

Me To a T

Our YW Activity last week was titled "All About Me".  Our Mia Maid president put the activity together with the purpose of recognizing our individuality and how its good that we are all different. 

One activity she did was called "Me To a T".  She gave us each a piece of paper and told us to draw a shirt, then draw pictures of what matters to us in our life, things we like to do, or things that make us unique. 

I was pretty excited how mine turned out so I thought I would share it!  I'm not known for my artistic skills, but I liked it anyway.

If you click on the image, you can see it bigger. 

Hopefully you can figure out everything I like, but here's a list just in case.  Starting on the left sleeve, working across then down:

*  Jewelry

* Love

* My Family

* The Temple and its Sealing Ordinances

* Crafts

* Old Navy (shopping)

* Daisies/Flowers

* Smiles

* Young Womens

* Chocolate

* Books

* My Car (and the fact that we have modern conveniences, and not handcarts!)

* Music

Now. please note that these are not listed in the order of importance!  I drew my family first, then the temple, then everything else.  

It was a fun activity and I highly recommend it if you are looking for something fun to do with your Young Women!

Flat Iron Holder

I found the idea to make this here, via pinterest.  I couldn't find a pot holder that had a pocket like the one pictured, so I bought two $0.98 pot holders at Walmart instead.

First I sewed the two pot holders to each other so they wouldn't move while I worked with them.

I also sewed the hanging tabs under then trimmed the excess so they would be out of the way.

Then I just sewed down one side and across the bottom.  I managed to break a needle, but not until I was at the very end thank goodness!

The finished product with my flat iron and comb inside.  

Now I can clean up when I finish getting ready instead of having to wait until the flat iron is cooled down.  Dave will be thrilled!

The whole project took me about ten minutes.

Tying Shoes

Sorry for the red eye on this pic.  But look what two goofs I love!  (Pay close attention to Conni's left foot).

First Time French Braid

I finally got the guts to try to French Braid Conni's hair.  I did it on a morning when I had extra time, and put on a movie of her choice (Frosty the Snowman).  

Conni's hair is really thick, but the curls can make it a little hard for me to keep in place sometimes.  And, while she's getting length, some of the hair on top of her head is barely long enough to make it to the center, so I knew by the end of dance class it would all be loose.  So I chose to do the three braids. 

It took me probably fifteen or twenty minutes start to finish, but over all I like it!  I will get faster too - its been so long since I did it that I had to teach my fingers what to do again.  

From the back

(I don't love how braiding the three like I did made it look off-centered, so I will have to try that differently next time.  But other than that I was excited!)

From the front/side

From the front

So cheesy!!!

Birthday Countdown

I love The Wood Connection! This is their Birthday Countdown that I was able to finish this weekend.  Now, who's birthday is next and how far away is it?  

Conni's Newest Bag

Conni has inherited several of my personality traits.  One of them happens to be a love of bags.  I got it from my Great Grandma Zelda.  

I found this pattern and showed it to Conni and she asked me to make her one.  She chose the colors of red and white.  It took a few nights to get it all done, but here's the finished product and a happy little girl.  The first thing she put in it? Her rock collection.  She gets that trait from her dad.  :)

I asked Conni to model the bag and she thought I said "waddle"

"Cheese"

The pattern called for a button held closed with a loop, but Conni isn't quite that dexterous yet.  So we improvised with some good ole Velcro.

Poof Pillow Pattern

Last year I shared a post here of Dave and Conni playing in our Poof Pillow.  (Wow, that year has gone fast!)  We had some friends over this weekend who fell in love with the Poof Pillow and wanted to make one of their own. 

It took me a couple of days to find where I had saved the image of the pattern, so I thought I would throw a copy here on the blog to have one more place to keep track of the pattern.  

I'm not sure where the original pattern came from, but I got it from my good friend Renee.  

Here's the pattern if you would like to make your own.  I added a few notes in red for my own use. (Click on the image to open a larger version so you can actually see the details too.)

Happy Sewing!

Facebook Isn't All Bad

I just read this on Facebook, posted by Voices For Virtue.  See, there are good things to find on Facebook!

"It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is.  It all works out.  Don't worry.  I say that to myself every morning.  It all works out in the end.  Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future.  The Lord will not forsake us.  He will not forsake us.  If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessing, He will hear our prayers."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Thoughts about a Porcupine

This is a longer, slightly rambling post.  No hard feelings if you skip this one readers.  :)

I have served in Young Women's for close to eight years now.  I love it!!!  I have had some very memorable experiences.  I love working with all types of personalities.  Some of these girls are open books with lots of hugs and smiles for new faces.  Others are more like a shy little porcupine that isn't quite ready to be hugged yet.  I have learned a lot from all of them.  One of the things that I have had to learn is how to learn to love some of these sweet little porcupines.  

Sometimes it only takes a little work to get one to open up and trust.  Sometimes it takes more than a little work.  And we both have to work.  But when we work at it and we learn to trust, and then love one another, the reward is well worth it. 

One Young Woman in particular was quite a little porcupine.  And now, maybe one of my favorite porcupines.   (I know, I'm not supposed to have favorites.  But it happens.)  We worked hard and I prayed hard to learn to love her.  She has a very strong personality and isn't afraid to speak her mind.  I had to develop a bit of a tough skin and remember that my role as a leader came first, and that hopefully friendship would follow.  It was a great day when I realized that I truly did love her, unconditionally, and that we were friends.  I fought hard to get there!  I love to see her smile and watch as she animatedly shares her life's stories.  I loved to watch her testimony grow and feel the spirit that she shared.  

We continued to work together thru the Young Women's program and experience life together.  Then I noticed her personality changing ever so slightly, and then more drastically.  My porcupine became more defiant, and the quills were out more often than not.  Our friendship was still there, and my love for her, and I prayed even harder to know how to help her.  She made some poor choices and lost some privileges.  I didn't get to see her as much.  Then one day she told me she didn't know if she really had a testimony any more.  This floored me!  I had heard her bear her testimony and felt the Spirit thru her words on more than one occasion.  I was literally speechless.  I hugged her and told her to lean on me, and I would help her.  I didn't know how, but I would.  I reminded her every time we spoke how much I loved her and how much others did too, and that she did have a support group.  

I agonized over this.  I prayed and prayed for something to do to "fix" the situation.  Nothing came.  One day I was shopping and I saw a book about doubt and how Satan uses it as a tool in the latter days.  I knew I needed to share it with my porcupine.  I reminded her again of how much I loved her and shared my testimony with her and reminded her that our Father in Heaven loves her.  She was genuinely happy that I thought of her and wanted to help, but I didn't sense that she wanted to change.  I continued to share my testimony in little ways after that and show my love for her.  

Then a few weeks later, I heard that my young porcupine had made another choice, as was her right.  She chose to leave her home and her loving family and try different experiences.  She is trying to make her way in the world and have the "freedom" of making more choices. 

I have been struggling with her decision!!!!!!!!!!  When I heard the news I literally sobbed.  I felt like I had let her down.  Maybe if I had prayed harder or searched more I could have "fixed" it.  I know that it wasn't my job to fix it, and that my porcupine needs to learn and take responsibility for her choices.  But it still hurts.  I still cry.  But writing my thoughts has helped, and I know that others are hurting for her too.  

I wish I had a way to get in touch with my porcupine.  I know that she knows how to get in touch with me when she is ready.  I know that somewhere inside all those quills she has a testimony, and for now I will pray  that it can find its way out.  My time in her life is over - for now - and I will relish the memories we shared.  I hope that she will remember them fondly too.  I know that as much as I want to wallow, there are other porcupines awaiting my love and attention.  So, as President Hickley shared from his father, I will "get back to work!"

My Little Princess

Conni was recently invited to her cousin's Princess Birthday party.  I just had a chance to get the pics, and I thought they were too cute not to post.

I'm not sure what happened here, but I thought it was pretty funny.

I know she was frustrated that her sleeves kept falling off, maybe that's it!

A Banner Day

So, my craft friends - does anyone have some suggestions about what to use to hang these adorable (if I do say so myself) banners I just finished?  I want to hang them above my vertical blinds that are on my sliding glass door.  The pictures don't really show, but I have them all strung on cording.  

I love getting projects done!

Facing a Fear

Conni has inherited her mother's fear of spiders.  I thought I've been brave the last three and a half years when I see one in front of her.  Probably not.  Some things are just in the genes too, right?

Tonight, Dave and I were downstairs in our family room watching tv.  Conni had been put to bed - three times - and we heard her moving around upstairs.  I thought I heard her coming thru the kitchen, but then I heard her back in her room (directly above the family room).  I figured she was going back to bed.  

Then I hear her coming quickly down the stairs and crying in her panicked teary way that means something has really upset her.  Immediately we get her in the family room and have her tell us what's wrong.  She frantically tells us there's a spider and starts running back upstairs again.  

Its about now that I notice she has a pair of shoes on.  We get up to the landing, and sure enough, there's a spider on the side of the stairs.  It was a pretty good size in my book - probably 1-1.5 centimeters for the body, plus the legs.  (ew!!) 

Well, I comfort Conni with my reassuring "Daddy will get it baby, let me hold you." and make Dave get it.  (He's home, why should I have to go to the creepy thing!)  

I asked Conni if she was trying to get it and she said yes.  After Dave squished it and threw the thing in the garbage, Conni ran over to investigate that the spider was truly gone.  Then she wiped away her tears and sweetly told Dave "Thanks for getting the spider Dad!"  And then, "Thanks for taking care of me Mom!"

I was so excited to think that she was going to try to take on this nasty "giant" thing all by herself!  I told Conni she was very brave - she would have had to pass the thing three times to see it, get her shoes, then come get us.  I told Dave I would have stood there staring at the thing to make sure it didn't move while I cried for help.  (Not only at Conni's age, but today I would do the same thing!)  

While I rocked her another time in her room, she said, "thanks for being brave for me Mom."  So sweet!  This girl's found some courage in her, and we will work with her to face her fears and come off the conquering hero!

Sweet Sayings

Conni's vocabulary and personality continue to grow daily.  Here are some of our favorite things that she says.  (I tried to spell it how she says it):

Wait thesecond (wait a second)
I'm neckled (I'm naked)
Umm, sorry
Hmm, lets fink (think)
Lets add it to my cowection (collection)
My friend Wydia is my babrite (Lydia is my favorite)
Your my best friend Mom/Dad!
That's my babrite (favorite) thing in the whole world!!
Super Conni to the rescue!
I'm not cute, I'm adorable!  (If she's wearing her super girl cape, she's "Super Adorable")
You dogot to get it!  (You forgot to get it)
My friends coming in free (three) minutes.
That's stylish!

I'm sure there's more, but this is what Dave and I came up with last night.  I love seeing her personality develop!!!

Christmas

Christmas was so much fun this year!!!  Conni loved to see the signs of Christmas all around.  We took several nights in December and just drove around to see the local Christmas lights and neighbor decorations.  We made a couple of trips to see the Elves at Gardner Village.  We really enjoyed spending time together. 

Christmas morning was awesome.  Conni was exhausted as always from the busy Christmas Eve traditions from both sides of the family.  As she has for the past three years, she spent a portion of the morning laying in my lap.  But she loved her present and was so grateful.  

Christmas Eve Chaos opening gifts with eight other cousins

Don't you just love that cheesy face!!

(I kinda miss the chubby cheeks.  They were so kissable!)

Christmas Morning photos of the stockings

(A trait I inherited from my father)

Christmas Morning Tree photo

(again, from my father)

(siblings, notice I didn't make Conni stand there salivating to open gifts while I get the photo to turn out just right?  Yes, I remember that all too well......)

Opening like a pro

Daddy in the Santa cap

Yes, she's opening on my lap again this year with her blanket wrapped close

Reading her new story while Mom tries not to peg her in the head

Loving Minnie Mouse!