Nice Mormon Kids

So, here is my question...

Why is it that my sweet, sheltered (homeschooled), Mormon kids sing "Red Solo Cup" any opportunity they get? Not just sing, but really belt out! It started around Christmas, when they were making a gingerbread house with their cousins who are 15, 12 and 7. Somehow they *all* started singing it. All six of these nice, sweet kids knew the entire chorus. If you don't know the song, DON'T LISTEN TO IT! It's terrible! Of course, once they caught on that I did not approve, they sang it all the more, especially my three year old. How redneck can we get? At a girl scout meeting for my 8 year old the other day we had a dance party, and every kid got to choose a song to play. What did my daughter ask for? Yup, you got it.

Whatever.

So much going on...

So much, apparently, that I can't write anymore.
Our super-exciting news is that we are expecting another baby. He will arrive around July 25th. We haven't entirely decided on a name, but we are thinking Finnick, and calling him Finn.
Other than the diabetes scare, everything is going well. Last week I got my real A1c results back and I am at 5.5, which isn't even a pre-diabetic number. I still have to test, and I'll still have some work to do after the baby comes, but it is not so scary. And I have not put the baby at risk. Just this week I think I can feel him swimming around in there. :)
Aunica had two teeth pulled last week. She was awesome, not a whimper, didn't cry. In fact, afterwards she asked me why I had told her it would hurt, it was no big deal. She looks so much better. Her supernumerary tooth was really displacing her permanent tooth, and it has already started to move into the correct position. The only unfortunate news was that the dentist recommended I get her into see an orthodontist as soon as possible. And she is only 7!
Sidda had a birthday last week, and now she is five. She just wanted a park birthday, and so that is what she had. We fed 25 kids and their grownups hotdogs and hamburgers. It was so easy, I felt like I was cheating! We also ordered cupcakes from my friend's new cupcake shop, On a Lark Cupcakes here in SLO, and they were great. Most of all, Sidda had a great time. On her actual birthday she chose to have dinner at Franks and her cousin made her a Minnie Mouse cake. Happy 5 year old days! :)
Dimitri is great. Just turned 2 1/2. He is fully potty trained, even at night. I am so excited. He pretty much did it on his own. Everybody told me that boys are later to talk and later to potty train, but that certainly wasn't true for this boy!
Deon is working along at REC Solar. He likes it, the people are very appreciative, but the work is a little boring. He was recently contacted by the Highway Patrol to start the background investigation. He applied a year ago, and we have just now gotten to this point. So last week they asked to come over to our home for an interview. I cleaned like I have never cleaned before, and my house is spotless. It has never in my life been this clean. I love it, and I think I can keep it this way. So the guy came today, but he was upset about h0w Deon had answer the background questions, and left. Aborted the interview. So, I was irritated, but Deon is a much better sport than me (must be why he is trying to get this job and not me). We'll try again on the paperwork and interview. But, like I said, my house is clean, which is awesome. Although I am exhausted. I must put out a public thank you to all those who came over and sweated and toiled to make my house look presentable though, and watched my kids so all this would go smoothly.
Another big change at our house is that my mother in law has moved out. Or, I should say, we moved her out. We had already agreed that she would need to be out before the new baby comes, but last week she found out that her grandson in Utah would be needing some help with his family. She told me she would be heading out in two weeks (although this was a bit of a misunderstanding), so we decided to get her out before the interview so we could have the extra room in the house. It made all the difference in the world, I am so happy with the extra space. We are finally not cluttered. We will miss her being here though. And it was a rediculous amount of work to be done while I was trying to do all this major cleaning. But it is done.
My sister moves to Brazil in a month, and I am sad about that. Hopefully it will be a good move for her family.
Still trying to get a loan on this house, such a headache.
I think that is all for my news right now. Some good, some not so good, all in all we are doing well.

Christmas Eve

So, the lists are all made and checked. All the Christmas traditions are almost complete. We have visited Santa, carolled, delivered the 12 days of Christmas, read our Christmas book, bought the tree and trimmed it, made gingerbread houses, and on and on. We still have left cookies for Santa and the ceremony of presents, starting with new pjs from "the tree" tonight. We'll be having a quiet Christmas at home, which is fine. Someday I hope to be like another woman I know whose immediate family has grown enough to feel full just with her own brood at home. Someday I'll feel that.
It has been an interesting month for me. I was referred to a diabetic specialist because I have high fasting glucose numbers (106), and upon my arrival at my appointment was told I had type two diabetes, a lifelong diagnosis, and I was being put on insulin shots effective immediately. This was all based on an a1c of 7.3. I was devastastated. However I got a phone call the next morning that there had been a mistake. That an a1c had not been run at all and that I am not diabetic and should not take insulin. Which was a huge relief, and I wasn't at all upset with them. Until later, when I started to realize that they could have killed me. My fasting number at 5am is 70, and if I had additional insulin on board I probably wouldn't have woken up. Thanks, guys. So now I am testing, watching what I eat, trying to figure this out. I do have pre-diabetes, which can be reversed if I make some changes. So it has been a rough month.
Otherwise life is good. I am enjoying a few days at home, not doing much (which is actually driving me crazy). Deon loves to watch movies, so he is perfectly content. Now I am going to go make chocolate covered pretzels and wrap packages. The busy season is almost over. :)
Merry Christmas...

Dimitri says...

Lets do it!

I love it. :)

Family Traditions

I love family traditions. When Aunica was little, a teacher at the adult school put a bug in my ear about creating family traditions. I went crazy, printing off lists, deciding what type of traditions I wanted to create in my own family. I think some of this stems from my lack of family growing up, and my need for roots (just like my need to NEVER move), but that is for another story.
I wanted to write down some of my family traditions I have created with Deon and the kids. There are the daily and weekly religious traditions, daily scriputure study and prayer, morning devotionals, weekly family home evening and church attendence. Then there are the holidays. Homemade valentines. Easter egg dyeing, then hunting in the yard. New outfits for Easter. The Easter bunny brings summer baskets. Fourth of July means parades and sand castle contests, and fireworks in the park. New costumes for Halloween, pictures at Jim's Campus Camera, trick or treating our neighborhood, Booing our friends, a Halloween dinner party. Thanksgiving at our house, with our thankful journal, even if the date isn't actually Thanksgiving. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (that you have have to mix with your hands, also a tradition), homemade cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, Laura's pecan sweet potatoes, and pies, pies, pies. Board games, and hanging out. Christmas means...buying all my presents before December, giving away the 12 days of Christmas, caroling in our neighborhood, a Christmas book, reading the Christmas book every day of December, new pajamas "from the tree", a new ornament for our family and for each child from the ornament shop on pier 39 in SF, pick out a tree together and decorate together, sit on Santa's lap downtown and ride the merry go round. Santa brings the one thing you ask for (this one may not last forever!). Make a gingerbread house, hang lights on the house. Other traditions include birthdays, with cake for breakfast and your choice of where to go to dinner.
Maybe we have more, but this is enough for now. I love this time of year, and all the traditions that come with it.

Awesome event

Today was crazy. We have some friends that were in a terrible car accident a few months ago, so I decided to put on a fundraiser BBQ. When I told my 14 year old niece, she asked to do it, so that she could use the service hours for girl scouts and young women through church. I was thrilled. It has been a ton of work, mostly for her and her mom. Today was the big day, and I spent all day (as did she and her mom) working on it. Finally, our awesome BBQers came and rocked, cooked a great meal, and we sold 45 tickets, raising $1700 for the family. Isn't that awesome! So many people helped out buying tickets, making donations. So many local businesses, too. Trader Joes, Tahoe Joes, Hometown Buffet, Albertson's, Vons, SLO Fresh Market, Costco, San Luis Sourdough, Smart and Final, Kiwanis Club, San Luis Coastal Unified School District, Wade Brown Construction. I am so thankful for the charity that people have in them.

GUESS WHAT?!?!?

Deon has found a JOB! Woo-Hoo!!!
He is the newest employee at REC Solar, here in SLO. I feel like the Titanic is righting itself. :) It has been a rough year for our family. I am so excited, and hope this really is the end of that tunnel.
I had a chance to hang out with some very special people in our lives today. Our friends, the Dunnes were in a car accident two months ago, and this is the first time we have been able to see them. It was so nice to see them whole and healing.
My worrisome news is that my father is in the hospital. He fell off his boat, onto the dock and into the water. Thankfully he was able to get out, but he is in the hospital, having suffered a broken vertabre and a punctured lung. It sounds like he will be okay, just a long, painful recovery. I hope we'll be able to get up there soon.
It looks like Deon won't be starting for a bit, so he'll be able to make the Washington wedding, and a birthday trip to Disneyland for Dimitri. Then it is back to the 9-5! Can't say I am sorry about that!
Thanks for all the prayers on our behalf. :)

Firefighters to the Rescue

Well, I just had another exciting parenting moment. The fire department just left my house, after freeing my 22 month old son from his grandma's bedroom. I tried for about 20 min to get him out, using various keys, a paperclip, a safety pin, and, of course, testing all the windows. He screamed the WHOLE time. I called Deon, his brother, Henry and knocked on all my neighbors doors. Finally I gave up and called 911. They sent out the fire dept, and three firemen with axes in their hands showed up at my door, while I lay on the floor singing primary hymns to my son and stroking his toes. When I saw the ax, I said "no, really?" And they said it wasn't for breaking down the door, but for cutting off the doorknob if they had to. Which they didn't. One firefighter (who is a dead ringer for Chuck Liddel-and I KNOW Chuck Liddel) took a screwdriver to the door and popped it right open. To my screaming, half naked (he had taken his pants and diaper off) toddler. Lots of thank yous, and a recommendation to change the locks to an easier one to open. *sigh*
Otherwise, we are doing fine. We are heading out for a big trip to Montana on Friday, that I am trying like mad to get prepared for. Deon's sister lives in MT, right outside where the Battle of Little Bighorn took place. They do a reenactment every year, and we are going to be there for it. I am really excited. Aunica is really into pioneers and Native Americans, so we are incorporating a lot of those sites into our trip. We plan to hit Temple Square and This is the Place in SLC, UT. Then up to Yellowstone, and on to Cody, Wy. While in MT I hope to go to a pow wow, and the reenactment, of course. The trip is short because it is flanked on both sides by girl scout functions. Tomorrow we are going camping with Aunica's troop, our big end of the year celebration. Then we have have to be back for Aunica to start horse camp with her best friend, Erika on the 29th.
Deon still doesn't have steady work, and it wears on our whole family. Aunica has sucessfully completed the 1st grade. Sidda has decided she wants to learn how to read this summer, so we'll see how that goes. We are planning a trip to Disneyland this summer to celebrate Dimitri's 2nd birthday. We just keep plugging along, grateful for our health and each other. Really, the very most important things are going great, and we are very happy.

Work, work, work

So, Deon and I have found some employment. I have picked up 2 days a week working for a guy here in town. The perfect job, interesting, varied, challenging. Unfortunately, I don't really want to work at this point in my life. However I am enjoying it now that I am getting into the swing of things. I realize that I *am* an intelligent person. I can solve difficult problems and hold a thought for more than 15 seconds. It is very self-affirming to work. The person I work for is great-patient, even-tempered, honest. The pay is good. I couldn't ask for more. In 20 years. *sigh*
Deon has been picked up by his old boss in Paso 2 days a week. Or at least we are hoping for 2 days a week. He works when there is work to do. He has passed the first two phases of the Highway Patrol tests, both the written and the agility. This Thursday he has an interview, then they begin his background checks. That takes four months. ^groan^
In the meantime, he is doing an awesome job homeschooling Aunica. I think she is benefitting from a change of pace, and I probably am, too. She has lost her first tooth, and the tooth fairy left a gold dollar and fairy dust on her pillow. It was *very* exciting. Just goes to show you, sometimes I don't blow it. :)
So, Aunica lost her first tooth ON Sidda's fourth birthday. We had Sidda's birthday party at the SLO Children's Museum, and had a great time. She chose to go to Frank's for dinner. Gotta have a hot dog!
Dimitri is great. Talking up a storm. He is putting words together now (sing songs) and parroting more. He is so dang cute! I just love him to pieces. He is officially in Nursery now, and so am I. I really like working with the little ones. The 18 month olds are still so sweet. Its the olders that give you a run for your money. Although it sure is cool when the older kids actually listen to a lesson (which I keep to less than 5 minutes). Anyway, it is fun in there.
We are well into cookie season with Girl Scouts. Aunica has sold about 175 boxes to date. She is pretty awesome. Booth sales start this Friday. It will be a busy 3 weeks. But what time in my life isn't?

Weird

During dinner tonight, Aunica remarked that she has a bump in her mouth, and is it okay if she rubs her tounge on it. I said, huh, let me see. She points to a spot behind her front teeth and lo and behold, there is a tooth back there. Aaak! Her front teeth are loose, but not very. This is not a good sign. Worse still, we have lost our dental insurance with Deon's unemployment, and now have medi-cal, which only one single pediatric dentist in SLO County takes. And he is booked for the next six months. I know, because I have an appointment with him (if I am lucky, they won't promise my kids can see him, even though I explained they have really unusual dental development issues) in April that I made in October. I loved their old pediatric dentist, but it is hard to stomach a $200 visit.
So, I don't know what we will do, but my best advice to Aunica was to start wiggling. :) If it comes out on its own, one less thing to worry about.
In better news, we just got back from a very nice few days in SF with my family. We ate, and ate, and ate, and stayed up too late. My kids were treated to two tea parties (one at Auntie Kim's and one at a very special tea house), more Christmas toys (of the Littlest Pet Shop and Princess varieties, much coveted) and lots of special attention. Family is sometimes difficult, but always a blessing.

My kids rock!

Well, I need to do a big post, with some updates, etc, but for now I just want to write a few things so I don't forget.
Sidda has recently taken to telling people "you're so pretty and so sweet." It is her little way of saying I love you, and I can't tell you how much it touches my heart. She says it to Deon, too, and it doesn't impress him quite as much. But it sure does me.
Aunica and I have been talking about Civil Rights, the right to vote, desegregating classrooms, Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, etc. I came out the other day to find her playing with her fisher price little people. Here is our conversation:
Mom "What are you doing, Aunica?"
Aunica "Playing school."
Mom "Oh."
Aunica "They are changing the laws."
Mom (interest piqued) "What laws are they changing, honey?"
Aunica "They are making it so the black kids can go to school with the white kids, because the black kids' school is too crowded and the white kids' school is better, and they are going to be equal."
So, that is my five year old desegregating public schools. I can't tell you how proud of her I am. What a wonderful homeschooling moment.
Dimitri is one, cute, just his little old self. He is really busy, as I think they always are at this age. He says lots of words. He likes to play the thank you game, where you hand an object back and forth and say thank you. He is walking, but not much. He has taken 3-4 steps, but only when encouraged. He more like throws himself around. He still very much prefers crawling.

Not good news...

So, Deon got laid off today, entirely. No more job. Some side work, when it is available, that I hope will feed us. Now that month wait to find out about the Sacramento job is not near so pleasant. It's been a hard day.

Sacramento, Summer, etc...

So, we got back yesterday from Sacramento, where Deon was interviewing for an Architect postition with the Army Corp of Engineers. He is really excited about it, and I am getting there. It will be a good opportunity for us, more money in a less expensive place to live. And, even better, we both agree it is not a permanent move. Neither of us are big city folk, we have decided. We like a little bit of elbow room, and even more important, we like a lot of family time. With the rediculous traffic in Sacramento (and any metropolitan, really) those two things are mutually exclusive. So, we'll see what city life is like for a few years. then figure something else out. If we get the job. Which is a pretty good possiblity. Deon interviewed for three hours and the guy said he would hire him, if it was up to him, but it is up to personnel. On his recommendation. So, I'm not sure what the point of that is, except maybe the guy just can't say he is hired, but who else will they hire, if not the person recommended for the job? Seems a little silly to me. Anyway, it is government work, so it may be a month before we ever even get news. Then we negotiate a starting date. So, we'll at least spend the summer here.
Speaking of summer, we are in full swing. Enjoying our summer classes at the adult school, and I'm trying to sign up the girls for swim lessons tomorrow. Our big summer goal of 1000 books read to my children is coming along nicely, but it is hard to keep up with. We have read about 260 so far, more than a quarter of the way through. I must say, I am pleased to see a difference. I thought, since I regularly read to my kids, that I wouldn't see any change in them, but they are both much more interested in books. They spend a lot of their free time (when I'm not reading to them :)) looking at books by themselves. We also have plans to go see the Thompsons in Orange and go to the temple, and I will be going to my father's 75th birthday. Unfortunately it will fall on the same weekend as my nephew's Endowment session in the temple, as he leaves for his mission in August, so Deon will be attending that. I am so sad, but neither of us can be in both places at once, and I felt we needed to have family representation at both. I really felt like I couldn't miss my father's birthday, as it will be an opportunity for me to connect with a lot of people I haven't seen in years, and meet family I have never seen, period. I do feel a little insecure without Deon there, but I am trying to recruit Kim to go with me.
The other new thing is an informal diagnosis for Sidda of Sensory Processing Disorder. Maybe I will save this post for later, but suffice it to say, there is much evidence to say this is what is going on, and that something should be done about it so that she can be sucessful in the near future. Hopefully I'll have more information soon.

Halfway Laid Off?

Well, Deon received notice this Wednesday that he has been cut to 20 hours a week. I spent Thursday wanting to crawl in a hole, but he spent the day sending off resumes. Much more procuctive. So far he has gotten a call back from his old boss, who thinks he may have work for him, which would be great. The other call was from a hiring associate from Camp Pendelton here in CA, down by San Diego. She seemed very excited about his qualifications, and they are hiring a number of people, so that may be where we end up for now. But, I can't count my chickens before they hatch. For now, we are down 50% of our income. We can't pay our bills on that. But at least I have hope.
So, I'll try to focus on the postitive. Life is pretty good, really. We are all healthy. Dimitri is a joy, he is so much fun. He is pulling up on everything, and cutting his top teeth. One is already through and he goes around grinding it all day. Aaak! Sidda is smiley as always. Aunica has just finished Kindergarten with flying colors. Her reading level is a DRA 16 and passing First Grade is a DRA 17. Her teacher is so pleased with her, as are we. Unfortunately her teacher will not be continuing with her charter school in the fall, but, as it turns out, we may not be either. We are all looking forward to summer. We have a goal of reading 1000 books this summer, which sounds like a lot, but it is only about 10 a day. And I am counting a chapter as a book. That combined with Aunica reading some and writing some every day makes up our summer education plan. I'll probably work with Sidda on her letters. She is desperate to learn, but I have a hard time feeding that need with an older child I am also responsible for educating. I need to get better at it. Also in the summer line up are swim lessons, piano, messy art, a regualr preschool class, and a dad sports class. We will not be at a loss for things to do. Hopefully some hiking and walking as well.
In other news, it looks like Deon's mom may be moving out. She is considering filing bankruptcy, and she would have to move back into her house so they don't take it. Which makes us sad, but it may be good timing if we have to move ourselves.
Lots of change in the future for us. Some adversity. :) I do feel very blessed and looked after though, so on we go.

Dentist Visit

So, Friday I took the girls to see a new dentist, Dr Stout. We had decided to change dentists after our last dentist wanted to take an "agressive approach" to Aunica's supernumerary (extra) tooth she has in between her two front teeth. The first dentist we had taken her to (who has stopped seeing pediatric patients) thought it prudent to take a wait-and-lets-see approach, which I was fine with. Seemed like a good plan, don't make a problem where one doesn't yet exist. He sold his practice to a new dentist, who wanted to surgically take it out, for no apparent reason. His reasoning seemed flimsy (it could get infected, well that might happen when you perform surgery on my 5 year old), so we decided to get a second opinion and this time with a Pediatric Dentist (as opposed to a general dentist who sees children, which is what we have previously done). What a great office! Dr Stout and his staff we great with the kids, and he totally understood where I was coming from. He also wanted to wait and see what happens, and had high hopes that it may just work itself out. He recently had a patient in that had a supernumerary in the same position that broke through on its own. All of Aunica's news was great. Great, clean teeth, supernumerary in a good position, good to go. Sidda had some mixed news. Great, clean teeth, same as her sister. But, in doing the xrays, the dentist is pretty sure she is missing at least two teeth, possiby 4 or more. She is missing the next out from the middle on the bottom, and possibly the same set on the top. It makes me a little sad, but really not a big deal, and I was already a bit prepared for it, as her first dentist had mentioned that children with a fused tooth often have missing teeth as well. He had positive things to say about it though. She has a small mouth anyway, so it may help on spacing, and she doesn't show gum when she smiles, so it won't be very noticable. Probably not need dental implants. Both the girls are probably in for braces though, which is no surprise. All in all a good visit, and I am very happy with this switch in dentists,.

Poison Control # anyone?

Well, here is the story of my life. I went to Albertson's tonight. I have this new thing that I am trying to look through the ads that come in the mail and find things on sale that we use and stock up. This is new for me. Usually I just make a list, go to a grocery store, and buy it. Sooo...
Albertson's. Deon and I go in alone, leaving Grandma in the car with the three kids. There is a deal that if you buy 10 boxes of Kellogs Cereal you get two free movie tickets, and since Deon has a line up of movies he wants to go see (Wolverine, Star Trek, Angels and Demons) *and* he eats a lot of cereal, this seems like a great idea. Get to the checkout, pay for cereal, but where are the tickets? Seems we made a mistake. There was a post cereal in a kellogs cereal spot. So, check into customer service, where I realize that the manager is a friend of mine. Which is good, because he is very patient as he returns all 10 boxes of cereal, gives us our money back, then recharges for the 10 correct boxes. This takes at least 30 minutes. When it seems the transaction is under control, I head out to the van to see how Grandma and the kids are doing. Look back at Sidda holding a half empty toothpaste tube. Hmmm. I have a bad feeling that was full not very long ago, as we went to the dentist on Friday. I ask Sidda "did you eat that toothpaste?" She replies "no, no mommy, I just sucked on it." Walk back inside, ask for the number to Poison Control. Don't know it? No problem, I'll call 911. Turns out a child Sidda's size (32lb) can eat 3oz of flouride toothpaste before it becomes an issue. Thank goodness it was a small tube. So, now we are back home, and I am going to put these kids to bed. Because I am done. Really.
So, I need to share our dentist experience. Thankfully a much better one than our grocery store story. Well, you win some, you lose some.

April

Well, I feel like I am finally surfacing. April is looking much nicer than March. I am really looking forward to spring break next week. ESPECIALLY with Aunica's recent injury...
This Sunday we had some friends over and the kids were playing in the girls' room. Aunica was hiding in her closet and she went to shut the door with her right had and shut her left thumb in the hinge side of the door. She pulled her thumbnail out at the base. It was so sad, she cried so hard, and it bled and I was really sad, too. My poor baby. We bandaged it, and took her to the doctor on Monday. Thankfully it wasn't broken, but it needs to be bandaged for the next two weeks. She can't write or practice the piano with her right hand.
This last weekend was General Conference, which I enjoy, mostly. I have a hard time sometimes, because inevitably I end up squirming in my seat because I feel very chastized. So many things to work on, so many things I am either doing wrong, or not doing at all that I should be. The first two talks were about addictive behaviors (with my personal focus, debt) and showing respect to your children by speaking kindly to them to increase reverence and love for the Lord. Don't get me wrong, I think these are both important. Extremely important, in fact. If I didn't feel that way it wouldn't be so painful.
We had a perfect day this past Saturday. I wish all our days could be like it. We all woke up late, in our bed, at 8:45, just in time to watch General Conference in our pajamas. Deon made us special breakfast in bed, even. :) Then we went to Morro Bay to get Dimitri's handprints done, went down to the wharf to check out a tall ship, then played a little chess in the park with huge chess pieces. Went to Bayside Cafe for Deon's favorite clam chowder, and then did a little geocaching. Back home, hang out, Deon did the grocery shopping, have an easy dinner, and watch the Brown kids for a couple of hours. So, I spent almost all day with my family, slept in, felt spritually fed, learned some, got some errands accomplished, and did some service.
Dimitri has cut his first tooth, that is exciting. Someday I will post pictures. I should. Lots of those in my life. :)

The month of March is always hard...

So, I am glad it is almost over. Mostly consumed by Girl Scout cookie sales, which are still not complete. I have one more booth sale to do, and paperwork to finalize. I think next year I will pass the torch and beg someone else to do it.
I have wanted to put cute things my kids do on my blog, but always forget by the time I sit down. I have an Aunica story though. She is learning to count in Spanish, and we counted together to thirty, then I let her do the thirties. She was so focused on trying to get it right though, she said treinta-one, treinta-two, treinta-three. Thats spanglish for you. :)
Yesterday Deon and I hiked the hill behind our house to the red tower. Then we got lost. It is a seriously hard hike, I'm telling you! I have problems with my lungs, so I have to stop a lot on the way up, but Deon's legs were weak the rest of the day. We took a wrong turn (or didn't take a right turn, as it were) and ended up on Sydney St instead of at the Old Junior High. Alls well that ends well, and we keep talking about doing more exercise together. I'd like to build up my lung strength and lose this extra 20 pounds I'm hauling around with me.
Today I taught Relief Society from a talk by President Monson called The Joy in the Journey. In sum, focus on the positive, live life in the moment, and love fully and transparently. I wish you all a happy Sunday.

Finally Friday

So, I think we have come to the conclusion that we can't buy our house and still live in it. Kind of a bummer. We are still working on solutions, but it has been a stressful, sad week.
It has also been a super busy week, and will be through tomorrow night at least. Tonight was Girl Scout Thinking Day, and since my older girls put it on, there was a lot to be done! Throw in the fact that my sister-in-law, who is my co-leader, and her kids have been sick for two weeks and you have a big fat mess. In actuality, the event went off without a hitch, looking spectacular. Most things do, you know. All the kids had a great time, there were lots of songs led, cute costumes and swaps. In fact, my youngers won a certificate for cutest swap! I appreciate all the applause, yes, that was me. :) The girls made them, but it was my idea. I tried to have all the components of Thinking Day be age appropriate for them, and I think I really succeded. The board was cute, too. I also gave in at the last minute and bought Aunica a costume at the Oriental Market (which is really cool, by the way, I had never been in there before). The girls chose to learn about China, so we read some fictional books set in China, and talked about what it must be like to live in China. Then we put some of those things on a trifold board (Yangtze River running through it, chopsticks, rice and noodles glued on, a handprint dragon, a map, and a picture of a little girl in traditional Chinese dress), gave out fortune cookies, and the swaps the girls made were red paper circles with a toothpick cut in half (pointy ends removed) glued on and a few grains of rice, with a sticky pin backing. I was so proud.
Anyway, tomorrow is the culmination of my busy week. It starts with 9am piano, then pick up supplies from Kim for the 11am baby shower for Amy. Quick get in the van (and haul along mom and the other van) for girl scout cookie pick up at 1:30. What do you do with 80 cases of cookies? Well, you certainly don't use your living room anymore! Rush, hurry to Sidda's 3rd birthday party, thank goodness Kim is Martha Stewart in disguise and has totally uber planned the whole thing. Back home to sort cookies so my dear parents can please, please, please come pick them up and get them out of my hair. Whew! Thankfully I get to sleep in a bit on Sunday, as it is Stake Conference at 10am instead of 9am.
I'll try to post again when I resurface!

Triumph!

Today was Sidda's third birthday. Where did the past three years go? Don't we always ask ourselves that. We set up Aunica's third birthday as the end of binkis for her, and that worked out great. She even gave them to her sister, as Sidda was 7 months old at the time. This went so well we decided to have the same date set for Sidda. She has been excited about it, telling anyone and everyone who will listen "it be my birthday, no more binkis!" This as date has been looming upon us, I have felt some trepidation that it couldn't possibly be that easy again... But we are on night two, and she is sound asleep. Woo-hoo! What an awesome kid! I have transitioned her a little by laying with her, but she hasn't asked for it at all. I am so proud of her. :)
She had a nice birthday today. Sunday, so we had special cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and headed to church, where they gave her a crown and sang Happy Birthday to her (and ate cookies). Once we were home, my Aunt Wendy, Uncle Tim and Emily showed up to help celebrate. It is so nice to have them living in the states. Finally, Kim and Eric flew in from New Orleans and rounded out the group. Of course, Grandma was here, along with our family of five. We had hot dogs and ate a very fun birthday cake, which I will post pictures of. Sidda got some games, clothes, a scrapbook, an umbrella from her sister (a big hit), and a kid's MP3 player (also a big hit, although maybe not as much as the umbrella). I am all junk fooded out. A little much for one day.
Anyway, life is good. Nice to think of this day, three years ago. Amazing how much we love these little ones that come into our lives. **sniff** :)