I'm so glad when Daddy comes home...

Brett comes home from California tonight, just two days, but we always miss him. We love Daddy!

More Disney Anxiety Advice

Earlier I posted bout how I get anxiety when I talk to people. Not really when I talk to them, but later when I think about what I've said and analyze the whole thing. Well on Sunday I was telling Brett about some anxiety I was having over a conversation I had with a friend. The hard part about my anxiety is that on some level I can see how silly I'm being, but it doesn't help me to stop thinking about it. Anyway, when we were having the conversation this little clip from "Beauty and the Beast" popped into my head: (sing along now :D)
"LeFou I'm afraid I've been thinking."
"A dangerous pastime."
"I know."
Just stop thinking about it! If only it was just that easy ;).

FYI: This is what a jar of red glitter looks like on a mudroom floor. :)

Feeding Ducks With Aunt Saren

Last week we went down to Provo to visit Saren at her cute house. She took us for a walk to the Provo River to feed the ducks. It was a lot of fun; Clay even had a duck eat bread right out of his hand. Thanks Saren!

St. George Vacation Part 4 The End

Enough pictures? ;) On our last day we went to Red Cliffs Recreation Area and hiked up a canyon with some cool waterfalls. It was AMAZING there and so beautiful. It was quite an adventure to begin with because you have to drive under the freeway through two tiny tunnels to even get there and then drive through the stream. The waterfalls on the sandstone were smooth and if it was warmer you could probably have a good time sliding down and swimming. There were some tricky spots to climb over and you have to cross the stream a few times (exciting!). The boys thought they were mountain goats and climbed all over ( on our vacation with all the hiking they only got stuck and needed help getting down twice which I thought was pretty good considering :D ). After Red Cliffs we headed back to town and visited Grandma Rasband again. She told Clay he could stay with her, jokingly, when he didn't want to go; well the poor guy took it seriously and started crying when we had to tell him he couldn't actually stay with grandma. He said that next time he is going to bring his dresser. He's so cute! Then it was time to go home. Back to the cold :( and the laundry. Hehe. It was a lot of fun. In fact I would rate our vacation as at least as fun as our Disney trip last fall. I miss the outdoors!

St. George Vacation Part 3

We spent a lot of time at the park. We played tennis, blew bubbles, flew kites, and played on the playground. It was sooo much fun!

St. George Vacation Part 2

On of the best parts of going on a vacation is eating out. Not having to cook for four days is awesome! And the hotel pool was super fun. Of course, since we don't get television at our house, the kids always love going to a hotel because they get to watch TV!! :)

St. George Vacation Part 1

We went to St. George for Spring Break this week. We got home last night and I already want to go back. It was WARM!! :) On Sunday when we got there we went over to visit Brett's Grandma Rasband and had a good visit. On Monday the first leg of our adventure was a trip to Snow Canyon State Park. We had a lot of fun hiking around. We hiked down to a collapsed lava tube and then climbed down in it. It was really cool (and a little scary). I didn't get a picture because I left the camera in the car. Bummer. We ended up our day at some sand dunes. When we first got to the sand dunes I turned to Brett and said, "We'll never get them to leave." Well I was right. After they played and played and played it took major persuasion and the promise of swimming at the hotel to get anybody to leave. It was super fun. And when we got back to the car, Clay was lagging way behind. When he finally arrived we saw why. He had dug up a flower root and all and brought it to his mommy in his sock. What a cutie!

Zoom

Lukie loves her new pink four wheeler. It is just a powerwheel ( huge discount on the floor model yeah!!), but it goes plenty fast. And of course she only drives it in the fast speed. I am pretty impressed with how well she can drive it and the best part of watching her ride it for the first time was definitly the perma grin. That girl did not stop grinning the whole time. :)

Okay.. I have anxiety, and I'm okay, maybe?

It may be apparent but we love the movie "Tangled" at our house. You know the part after Rapunzel leaves the tower and then flip flops dramatically between "I'm so happy!" and "What have I done?". That pretty much describes the anxiety I feel everyday in life. I talk to someone on the phone or at the store and I think, "Wow, that went well, I have friends!" and then I go home and remember every little thing I've said until I pretty much invent something wrong that I've said and then think,"Oh no, they must think I'm so dumb!" I'll have a great day with my kids - then I think, "I'm the best Mommy ever!"; I get mad and yell- then I think, "I'm the worst Mommy ever!" Sometimes I feel so inspired and want to get out and help make the world better! and then I get out there and somehow make it all worse (aaggh, where's my hermit hole!?)? I think everybody on some level does this, especially women. I try to hold on to hope; some days are easier than others (sometimes it's foggy ;)). But Rapunzel finds optimism and it grows as she shares it with other people; so I'm going to hold onto that and say I'll keep pushing forward because I REALLY want to see those lanterns!

Do I ever miss my Durango?...

... um, nope. And why should I when my Murano has this much trunk space and keeps my backside toasty on a cold day like today ;)? I know, I'm spoiled - but not as spoiled as the little girl with the pink four wheeler and the boy with the orange bike!

Potty Mouth

My sweet adorable little girl..... has two big brothers. Now I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but Luka's favorite word right now is poop. Yep poop. And she loves to say it (and then burst into giggles of course). And I have to admit, it makes me laugh too which is probably why she still does it and then says things, with a proud smile like, "I say potty words!" ...I'm just gonna say she's really getting into the potty training ;).

FINALLY!!!!!!

I am extremely proud to announce that I have officially graduated from diapers (hopefully). Lukie FINALLY has decided she is ready to be a big girl and we are now on day 3 of no accidents in the big girl panties. Hooray!! She had also announced that since she is a big girl she is ready for school. Now. Poor thing, she wants to go to school right away as in, "Mommy can you take me to school now?" How do I tell her she has to wait until fall for preschool when she is such a big girl right now :). I am so proud of you Luka. Doing the potty dance with you is one of my favorite things.

A New Favorite

I like to order books for the kids on Amazon sometimes just for fun. We're kind of book junkies at our house :). This is one of the books that came today and is definitely one of my new favorites. I don't know which I liked better, the illustrations or the cute rhyming story. One thing is for certain I laughed and laughed. So cute! We will definitely be getting more 'llama llama' books.

More Rapunzel...

Lukie's Rapunzel ponytail has lived up to the name of the movie and she has now taken to running around the house with toilet paper tucked into her shirt pretending, of course, that it is her hair. It is seriously depleting our supply! I had decided to try my hand at making yarn Rapunzel wigs to sell on etsy (if my little girl's obsession is any indication they should be a hot commodity, right? ). Well 2 yarn skeins, 1 pair of pantyhose, $7, one patient boy model (he held still better than Luka would have), and SEVERAL hours later I had a completed wig. By this time Luka had pretty much decided it was hers and since it took so much time anyway and the idea of making more is no longer appealing :), I decided she could have it. If I didn't have kids and a cat who love playing with yarn it might not have been such a bothersome project. I am pretty sure that the wig won't satisfy Luka for long because she doesn't seem happy unless the "hair" is dragging on the floor behind her. And I bet Rapunzel wishes she could hang up her hair at the end of the day like Lukie :D.