Snow Candy

I am so happy today, just thought you'd like to know! We've been getting a ton of snow, so I decided to make a little snow candy with the girls last night. They loved scooping the snow into a few bowls while I cooked the candy on the stove. They really didn't know what was going to happen. I poured the candy into the snow and it immediately hardened. Kamryn and London loved to eat the candy and dipped it into the snow after each lick. I think they enjoyed eating the snow more than the candy itself though!

some poundage was lost...

I joined an aerobics/pilates and kickboxing class with a friend this week and I LOVE IT! I've always avoided these type of things for fear of my oxygen tank getting in the way, being embarrassed by my HUGE tank of O2 and for not being able to keep up with the class because of my lung issues. However, I was so wrong. First off, the class is mostly filled with friends who know of my health and they don't care...they look beyond that green tank. Secondly, I go at my own pace when I need to (in the back row, of course) and, I can keep up mostly (well except for the sit-ups, but I am getting there). Another great aspect of this class is that they have a little gymnastics area that the kids can run around and have fun in. Both London and Kamryn love it!


I've lost 8 pounds in the month of January. Considering how much time I spent on the treadmill and how little I ate, I should have lost a lot more...meh! Hopefully with the addition of this new exercising class, I will really see some results (maybe not in weight loss, but muscle!).

We visited Jeff's family in Pocatello this past weekend. It is always so nice to visit family. Kamryn is entertained. London is entertained. Good food is eaten. Fun board games played. Guitar Hero playing. ISU basketball game attending. And, something that we don't do often enough...homemade movie making. Yep, we made another classic...our own rendition of Princess Bride. +++Picture is of London and her cousin Becka.+++ I can't believe I actually thought that the Holt Arena would actually show up in this picture...oh well. This is Kamryn with her Aunt Ashee.
Our little family (minus London who wanted to stay with Grandma and Grandpa) at the ISU game. Yes, I am that short compared to Jeff.

Gordon B. Hinckley

The president of our church, the prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley passed away on Sunday evening at the age of 97. He was the 15th president in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I will always remember President Hinckley as a man of great spiritual strength, yet he had a subtle, reverent humor to him that always made me laugh. Now memories of my mission on Temple Square are coming to mind, as I was able to see President Hinckley at one session during each of the conferences held during my service. I am so grateful for those memories. Though his death is sad, I am happy that he has been reunited with his wife Marjorie.

Princess or Witch teeth

Jeff can get the girls to do anything. He'd make such a great stay at home Dad! My issue is brushing teeth. I blame it on myself really. I know a lot about dental health and I am anal when it comes to brushing and flossing. Getting a toddler to brush her teeth is a nightmare for me. Morning and night I struggle to get her to open up so that I can scrub those baby teeth.

I ask politely, I plug noses, I bribe...of which only work sometimes. So, I ask Jeff for help one night and he came into the bathroom, sat on the tub and proceeded to ask London if she thinks princesses are pretty. Instantly, her attention was all on Jeff. He continues...princesses are pretty and they have pretty teeth. Do you know why they have pretty teeth? London answers by grabbing the tooth brush and starts brushing. That is right, they have pretty teeth because they care about their teeth and they brush them twice a day. He continues by doing the opposite for witches...Do you like witches, do they have pretty teeth etc.,. Now, all I have to say is "let's go brush those princess teeth" and she immediately opens wide for me.

I don't know why I never thought of this...

Muffins for Mom

We usually have our individual Daddy/daughter, Mommy/daughter dates on Thursday nights, once a month. But, we improvised when Kamryn's school invited all moms to an early morning "Muffins for Mom" day. This morning, I took Kamryn for the muffin breakfast while Jeff took London to work. It was early (7:30 a.m), so please forgive my bad hair day. I had to post this picture for you Stephen since I am wearing my new coat that Jeff bought me a while back (this is as good of picture as I can get...enjoy!)

Kamryn showed me her classroom, of which I have already seen a few dozen times, but it was nice to have such an adorable tour guide. I had to take a picture of Kam's green card, which has stayed green the whole school year.

After Muffins for Mom, we went to pick up London at Jeff's office. He was coloring pictures with her while snacking on Honey Nut Cheerios. She enjoyed her self so much that she did not want to go home.

Adoption Website

I am sooooooo thrilled that our adoption website is up and running. Come check out our cute family here. If you need to tell a potential birth mom, it is http://www.itsaboutlove.org/ and then type in our names Jeff and Jennifer in the Search Profiles section.

Odds and Ends

For family home evening on Monday night, we told the story of Nephi/Lehi and how they listened to the Lord and obeyed. Then we transitioned that into our day and how we can be like Nephi/Lehi by listening to the prophet. One of the "easier" questions we asked London was "who is the prophet?" To which London replied "Gordon Blinkney."

Here is another one...

You can tell my kids are television deprived because I put on The Wizard of Oz, of which entertained them so much that I didn't hear a peep from them the whole 101 minutes. I just happened to look at London towards the end of the movie where Dorothy is saying goodbye to the Scarecrow, Lion and Tin man and she had tears rolling down her cheeks. What a softy! After the movie was over, both girls proclaimed that they did not like the show at all. Kamryn even stated that it was "creepy."

Smart as a Whip!

Jen and I went to Kammi's school this morning for Parent-Teacher conferences with Kammi's teacher, Mrs. Ahrens. This is the second one we've done since Kammi started Kindergarten last fall. The first was pretty much an orientation for parents, what we need to do to help Kammi in her schoolwork and some general comments on how Kammi was doing.

Today, we got some real feedback.

The first thing Mrs. Ahrens told us was how great Kammi is to have in class, how smart she is and, in particular, the influence she is on others. She said there are at least 2 children in her class that are further along than they would be because of Kammi's example. If Kammi is working, they work. If Kammi is listening, they listen. It was great to hear that Kammi is not only doing well, but is being a good example to others.

Her IRI test scores were great! She's improved from a 1 earlier in the year to a 3, meaning that she's recognizing sounds, phonetics and letters. Her scores previously indicated that she was at a 5 year and 5 month level, just a month or two beyond what her age really is. Now, she's at 6 years and 8 months. It's Mrs. Ahrens's goal to have all her kindergartners at the 7 year old level by the time they leave her class, and Kammi's not far. As Mrs. Ahren's repeatedly said during our visit, Kammi is "as smart as a whip".

Kammi's progress made us both proud of what she's doing. It brought Jen to tears to not only hear that she's doing great in school, but that she's being such a good influence on others.

Adorable, aren't they!

happy

Happy totally describes me today! Jeff's flight was postponed a few times yesterday until finally they cancelled it all together. When he told me that, I about flipped out...you mean you can't come home today. I mentioned that I could drive to Salt Lake City to pick him up and we could get a hotel for the night etc.,. But, he worked it out by re-scheduling his flight to Boise which is a lot closer to us than SLC, so the girls and I took a little road trip and drove to Boise last night to pick up Jeff. I didn't mind one bit. I really like airport reunions, they are much more exciting than Jeff just walking through our front door. He also treated us to Red Robin for dinner...yummy! We arrived back home just in time for the girls bedtime.

And, today has been one of those days that you just wish everyday was like. We slept in till 8, had a family breakfast together, had family scripture study and prayer, kids were playing with the coloring books that Jeff brought them back the whole morning, and we drove Jeff to work. After that, we took Kamryn to the bus stop, I was able take some "me" time and exercise, read London 5 books and put her down for a nap easily. Now, I am playing on the computer...it has been a relaxing, perfect day.

Jeff was supposed to be home over an hour ago and I am just really anxious to see him again. He has been in Pennsylvania for the week on business. Right now, he is stuck in SLC because of icy conditions and he has no idea when he will be on his flight home.

I've haven't been posting enough pictures lately, so I thought I'd post this one of Jeff teaching Kamryn how to draw Cinderella. Pretty good for a 5 year old, I must say so myself.

I can walk

Sorry about the last post! I posted it in a hurry since kids aren't patient and don't really understand the "in a minute" statement. I didn't realize that I had left off the "I can't walk" segment.

So, here is the story...

Every time London gets hurt (which seems to be often since she is kind of clumsy) she always says in a crying, I am going to die voice "I can't walk". The funny thing is that she could hurt her elbow and she'd still say it. We have to kiss her better, comfort her and then we have to watch her try to walk it off. So cute!

Sunbeams, Tavaci and I can't walk

My little London has graduated from nursery to sunbeams and she did not like it one little bit. As we turned the corner and went into the Primary room instead of the nursery room, she plopped herself on the ground and started screaming/crying "Me want my class." I passed her to Jeff to take care of so that I could go teach my 10-12 year old class. We also just happened to change meeting times to 12:30 p.m. (nap time), which explains everything.

Kamryn started Tavaci today, which is a musical, singing, drama type group. She had fun and it should be a lot of fun to watch her performance in the spring. Also, she just finished her second IRI test in kindergarten and she thinks she did great. I am pretty sure she did great because we've worked extra hard on everything!

Saddened with baby hunger...

Babysitting 4 kids under the age of 3, attending a baptismal service where we were surrounded by cute babies in church garb, fasting on Sunday for a baby and having Kamryn ask if we are fasting again for a baby, hearing that a friend (that was married on the exact same day as we were) is now pregnant with her 4th....I am way past hungry :)

I got the black lung pop

Today, I woke up with a bad sore throat. I just realized that I have been getting sick often, probably because I have a kindergartner now who likes to bring home a lot of germs. Recently, I accompanied Kamryn to her class and she had to stop by the community drinking fountain for a drink. I was watching her drink this little stream of water with her mouth as close as possible to the spout. I have no idea how many kids have put their mouth on top of that thing. Eww...she is now the owner of a water bottle that she can put in her backpack.

Our New Year's was low key this year, as it is every year. We stayed home with the kids and watched Stardust (which exceeded my expectations immensely), ate a lot of junk food, opened Christmas crackers (we forgot about them on Christmas Eve), went to a friends house and played a few board games, and we toasted sparkling cider at midnight, and set family and individual goals for the year. I was so excited that both girls stayed up till midnight, though London was very cranky the last 15 minutes.

I figure if the world knew my resolutions, then I might be more accountable for succeeding at them.

Here are my resolutions:

1. Make a nice family sit down breakfast at least 5 of the 7 days during the week.

This is something that Jeff wants me to do and being the good wife and mother I am, I am complying to his wishes. I have succeeded so far...waffles, pancakes, eggs, toast and scones so far this week. And, actually I think that I am saving a ton of money not buying all that sugary cereal.

2. Send birthday cards to family and friends.

I am really good at remembering someones birthday a few days after it has past. This year I will use my cute homemade card stash and send some loves your way...if I can remember :)

And finally...

3. Establish a job chore chart for the girls and follow through.

I am the mom who takes care of everything for my kids and I've realized that instead of making me look like a good mom, it has actually made my kids really lazy. I am still getting my 5 year old dressed, I brush her teeth, I bathe her etc.,. I have major control issues with letting my kids become independent, therefore we are starting with the basics because, frankly, I am so tired of cleaning up after them. London has developed the habit of saying "I can't" and I don't want her to grow up giving up, if that makes any sense at all. I am starting with a chore chart and hopefully I won't give in to their belly aching.

Wish me luck...

To my princess, barbie loving niece...
Happy Birthday Emily!