"All or Nothing"

Although my husband would tell you that I am an "all or nothing" personality type I must say that he has either adopted my way or he is in denial! How so you my ask. . .

The Playground We decided we wanted a playground set for our two daughters for our backyard.
Before Picture

After doing some pricing we realized that starting from scratch to build our own would be more expensive than purchasing a prefab assembly required. My fab husband really enjoys building so it was a no-brainer that we would not hire professionals to build the play set. Now the decision was which play set to purchase. Well, after you get a look at this you'll understand why I refer to him as being "all or nothing!" It is ginormous!
After Pictures


The Process
It took a total of three weeks from start to finish.
Week One: inventory and then weatherize each piece of wood.

Week Two and Three: Assembly
He did almost all of it by himself except for a little bit of help from me at the end and some help from Elizabeth along the way.


Playtime!


We are looking forward to sharing this play set with lots of friends!!

Preparing For General Conference

Ideas for General Conference with Small Children
I have been really looking forward to General Conference this weekend. I have several things planned for the girls and we also have some friends coming with additional children for a Saturday session. Because this is Easter weekend I have planned a conference/gospel centered eater egg hunt.

Conference Easter Egg Hunt
I found these online: https://beta.lds.org/bc/content/ldsorg/content/english/pdf/conference_squares.pdf

Conference Squares

Cut them out . . .


They fit perfectly in the plastic Easter eggs.

We plan to hide these eggs and then as they find them they bring them to us and tell what they think the picture is about and then get a piece of candy.

Conference Coloring
Elizabeth and I also gathered all our broken crayons. . .

peeled them and we will melt them down and create creative crayons for coloring during conference.


Also, we plan on using tents again this year for the girls to watch conference from and eat snacks and play with their toys.

Happy Conferencing!!
http://www.lds.org/broadcast/gc/0,5161,9080,00.html

The Happiest Day

It Is A Happy Anniversary
Today is our 5th Wedding Anniversary. As I look back over the past five years my heart is filled with gratitude. I have a truly loving and supportive husband. He has shown his love for me every single day over the past five years. He pampers me and treats me like his queen. I am grateful for all he does for me, our marriage, and our family. The memories of our wedding day light up my heart with joy and happiness. Although no picture could capture the pure joy that I felt that day, here a a few pictures that bring back those feelings from our wedding day, March 4th, 2005.

TenThings I Would Like To Do

Just Hand Over the Chocolate and No One Will Get Hurt
I was reading from this book early this morning (2:30 a.m) while caring for my sick baby and I felt inspired by the author's challenge to list ten things I've always wanted to do in life. Ten dreams, goals or aspirations (realistic or not) that I would like to do someday. The author suggested that having dreams or aspirations can lift our spirits, expand our boundaries, broaden our thinking, and exercise our imaginations. Just thinking about my list got me feeling more motivated and uplifted. So I decided to write them down.

My List (in no particular order):

* Plant a butterfly garden with a water feature.

* Take a photography class or lessons.

* Take a cooking class.

* Publish an article, essay, recipe, poem, or book.

* Learn to sew.

* Attend a taping or live television show that I regularly watch.

* Vacation at a tropical paradise.

* Go on a mission.

* Learn another language fluently (perhaps sign language).

* Learn how to play the piano.

* Conquer my fear of math.

As I was typing my list I started to get a little anxious about needing to accomplish these goals. I am very much a perfectionist and pretty much if I say I am going to do something I make the commitment. Well not this time. These are my no stress desires. Things to look forward to rather than more things that have to get done. They are not set in stone and I can change them whenever I want. I look forward to taking some small actions towards making some of these aspirations come true.

Birthday Thoughts

My 40th Birthday
It is official I am 40 years old. For years I have fondly anticipated this particular birthday. When I was in my 20's and early 30's I figured that by the age of 40 I would pretty much know who I was and where I was going and have a level of maturity that would distinguish me from my more youthful years of trial and mostly error. Well, then I got married and had children in my mid to late 30's. It was not so much the marriage part that made my prior vision of what 40 would be become blurry but it was the having children part that caused a bit of a ruckus. What did having children do? It showed me that I have not become self-actualized in the areas of patience, selfishness, or stress and anger management. All the work that I had done over the years to become self-aware and the skills I had developed to control my emotions, reactions and responses were almost completely annihilated. I had no idea children could do this to a person! Well maybe not all or even most people have this same experience but this is what happened to me, right now, at the age of 40. Despite the shift in perspective of what my life would be like at this age I am content with who I am becoming and where I see my life choices leading me. I am grateful for my marriage and for my two daughters and for the blessings of having a family. So, I celebrated my birthday pretty much this whole month. I made it a big deal and I told everyone I cared to tell that it was my 40th birthday. I had a great time with friends and family celebrating my life thus far and looking forward to the years ahead.

Bird Watching

I was wanting to bring a little more nature into my daily life and I thought bird watching would be a fun addition. So for Christmas I asked for and received a beautiful cedar bird feeder. I quickly added "hang bird feeder" to my awesome husband's honey-do-list and he hung it beautifully outside my kitchen window where I can enjoy it from both the kitchen and the living room! I have surprised myself with how much I have enjoyed watching the birds outside my window until today . . .



Guess what's back on the honey-do-list.

I Am Grateful For . . .

I have been a bit stressed lately and feel I need to take some time to think about the things that I am grateful for. I am sure I will not think of everything that I am actually thankful for but here goes. . .

I Am Grateful For:

~My family and friends~
This includes my immediate family - my awesome husband and my two beautiful (inside and out) daughters; extended family, and fictive family (those who have given me their unconditional love an support as if I were family); and my friends past and present who have helped me along the way.

~The Gospel of Jesus Christ~
I am grateful to know that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ are real, that they know who I am, and that they are actively engaged in my life. I am grateful for the blessings of the Temple and to know that my family can be together forever.

~Motherhood~
Motherhood is an eternal responsibility and privilege. The blessings, sacrifices, and challenges of motherhood have far exceeded any of my expectations. Now that I have children of my own I appreciate my own mother even more.

~Freedom~
I am grateful to live in this nation where I still have the freedom to worship God as I choose, for free speech, for democracy, and for laws that protect our rights.

~My home~
I am grateful for a nice home and for the many comforts therein.

~Food~
An abundance of food of all kinds.

~Chocolate~
It has a category all of it's own!

~Education~
I am grateful to have had the opportunity to attend some great schools and universities. I am grateful that it is paid in full! I am grateful that learning is a lifelong process.

~Gadgets and gizmos~
I am grateful for computers, telephones and cellphones, washers and dryers, stoves and microwaves, heat and central air, cars, planes, trains, indoor plumbing and showers, lights and electrical outlets, cameras and video, television and music players, CD's and DVD's, etc.,

~Misc.~
I am grateful that Elizabeth is now potty-trained!!
I am grateful that I can still play soccer (I did not say I was good, but I can still play).
I am grateful for vacations and holidays.
I am grateful to live where it does not snow!

Teaching Our Children To Pray

I am really grateful to be able to teach my daughters to pray. It has already been a rewarding experience teaching my daughter Elizabeth who is almost three years old.

During the week, after her father leaves for work, Elizabeth and I sit down for breakfast and I ask Elizabeth to offer the prayer and blessing of the food. At first she would simply say "thank you for the food." As she became more confident in praying, I would often prompt her with additions to the prayer.

Not long ago I started asking Elizabeth to say a "nice " prayer, or a "special prayer" which became the code words to encourage her say more than the fast food version of "thank you for the food." Not that simple prayers are not valid, but I wanted to teach her not to become too repetitious in her prayers and I wanted to encourage her to think of things she wanted to pray about specific for that day.

Last Thursday, I used our code words and asked Elizabeth to give a "nice" prayer. She in turn gave the fast food version of the prayer. I decided not to prompt her to add to the prayer. So I added my amen and we began to eat.

A few minutes later Elizabeth said earnestly, "Wait, we have to thank for Daddy, Mommy, Rachel and Elizabeth!" I said "Elizabeth would you like to say another prayer?" And she said yes and offered a beautiful addition to the previous prayer.

As I thought about this experience throughout the day I realized that there are lessons to be gleamed from this experience. One lesson is that we can always pray - even after we have already prayed. Another lesson is that we can learn from the example of our children!

General Conference Weekend

Spiritually Nourished, Physically Fed and Pampered


In preparation for General Conference we planned a meal and invited some friends to join us for Saturday's first session. I also found a resource from a great blog and we planned on some awesome pamperings!

Saturday
Our friends came over and we enjoyed some yummy snacks - homemade grilled pita with a homemade roasted pepper sauce, homemade ChexMix, popcorn, and grapes! The kids all played nicely and we enjoyed the first session of conference. After the session the kids played outside and we prepared the final touches to the Gyros with Baklava for dessert. Yummy!!

Alone as a family for Saturday's second session, we made a tent/fort/castle facing the television where Elizabeth could watch conference. I placed a picnic cloth on the floor and she enjoyed her yummy snacks. The inside walls of the fort were made of cardboard so she could color on them.


As for the pamperings, I received a pedicure thanks to my amazing husband! And we enjoyed watching conference together!


Sunday
I pulled out the pictures of the general authorities I found from the blog resource and identified each one for Elizabeth. I was excited to know that Elizabeth already knew who the prophet was and knew his name. I then encouraged Elizabeth to look for the apostle on the papers with each new speaker.


We then all settled on the couch and pampered each other with cocoa butter massages. First Elizabeth and I each took one of Daddy's hands and gave him a massage. Then it was Elizabeth's turn. She wanted a hand massage and then asked for a foot massage (she takes after her mother with this). Then mommy got a foot massage. We all got pampered and we were able to relax and enjoy conference together as a family. It was great!


By preparing for General Conference ahead of time and by finding ways to serve one another, we hope to teach our children to look forward to the next General Conference. I am really looking forward to reading the conference talks in the Ensign and later listening to the conference CD's!

VACATION

Atlanta, Georgia
As a family we are determined to take a vacation at least once a year. This year we decided to explore some of the attractions in and around Atlanta.

Our First Stop
We visited Uncle Steve and "Grandma" Cape!

"Happy" Elizabeth with Uncle Steve all to herself.


"Happy" Rachel - still willing to share!


A special thanks "Grandma" Cape!


What a nice visit!

Stone Mountain
It Rained!! Hoping it would pass we spent an hour in the museum. Fun, but not really what we planned on.

In between rain drops we decided to hike up about half the mountain. It started raining harder and we abandoned the hike. Enough fun to want to return and try again some other day!

We then drove around the park and looked at most of the sites from the car. We did stop (between rain drops) at, according to the brochure, a "Top Notch" playground - and it was!


Daddy and Elizabeth ventured it on their own. And sadly, they really were on their own - no friends on the playground today.


Did I mention the Rain!

The Atlanta Zoo
Off season and everything was wet from all the rain, but we had a great time at the zoo. We even stayed mostly dry with just some misting of rain throughout the day.

Petting Zoo Fun.


Getting a closer look!


There were a lot of Gorillas to see and even one to touch.

The Atlanta Aquarium
Lots to see and lots of people!





Grandma & Grandpa
Joining us in Atlanta and making the trip extra special!

Thanks for everything Grandma and Grandpa!!

Arts & Crafts
I love to find ways to use my creative side and it is a bonus to expose my children to arts and crafts. Three to four times a week Elizabeth and I had "Arts and Crafts Time." We both looked forward to these mostly fun times together (I must admit that my slight perfectionism occasionally got in the way). We usually had music and dancing one day a week. We play music every day, but this was an intense hour of music and dancing. We also had a day where we worked with play dough. Occasionally we would bake a yummy treat. Here are some other things we did this summer: *Check out the "HOT TIP" at the end of this post!

FUN WITH BUTTONS!!

Supplies: Glue (optional), buttons, paper. We did not actually glue ours so we were able to continue playing with the buttons over and over.


Elizabeth creating a masterpiece.


She never quite finishes hers but my final composition is on the right.

SAND ART

Supplies: Sand, glue, paper.
What To Do: Trace hands, cut them out, trace again on another piece of paper. (We had to do it as a two step process because Elizabeth does not sit very still yet and I wanted the pencil markings to be straight - again my perfectionism). Outline the tracing with clue and then spread glue all over the inside of the tracing. Sprinkle sand on paper.


Elizabeth's hands in sand!

PASTA ART

Supplies: Pasta, glue, paper.



GLITTER

Supplies: Glitter, glue, paper

PAINTING (finger, water colors, paint)



HOT TIP:
We do a lot of painting and these make great wrapping paper, cards, & gift tags. The grandparents especially love it!!

A Great Day
Saturday we invited some friends to go blueberry picking and then back to our house for a yummy homemade treat!

We all got started picking . . .but it was a hot day!

The kids had fun for the short time they could take the heat.

Yummy Home-Made Treat
My amazing husband has been wanting to make an ice-cream cake (he has never tried this before) so he decided this weekend was it! He did not follow a recipe but designed it himself. He began the process several days ahead by making the starter for the ice-cream (well, I think this did call for a recipe). He then got out the ice-cream maker and made his own strawberry ice-cream. He then made the cakes (box cakes are hard to beat so he went with Betty Crocker). Then he made white chocolate and a milk chocolate (well semi-sweet) discs to fit between the layers of cake and ice-cream. He used home-made strawberry jam (from our batch of strawberry pickings we froze) to hold the chocolate discs to the cake layers. Just before serving he whipped some cream and placed some of our freshly picked blueberries on top. I don't know if your mouth is watering yet but this was one yummy cake!

And impressive with five layers!


Even the kids were impressed!

We ended the morning's adventures relaxing in and by the sandbox.

It was a bit cooler in the shade.


The baby took a nap.

Spending time with family and friends sure makes for a great day!

Choking Incident

Choking Incident
Well I debated blogging about this but I decided to for a couple of reasons. First, if my experience could possibly prevent someone else from having this experience than it is good information to share. Also, it is one of those experiences that weighs on my mind so venting my thoughts and feelings about it may be good too.

The incident:
I will start with then end result - Elizabeth is fine and mommy is grateful!

Okay so now back to the beginning - Elizabeth was eating an orange. I was giving her an orange slice at a time and she kept coming back for more and then running off to play. About 5 minutes or so after I had given her the last orange slice I noticed she needed a diaper change. I laid her down and started changing her when she began choking. I immediately began trying to dislodge whatever was in her throat by performing Heimlich maneuvers. After several attempts she began crying. I was relieved and looked to recover what appeared to be part of the orange when she inhaled and began choking again. I again attempted to dislodge it and finally was able to pull the stringy mess from the back of her throat. What she had choked on was the casings from around the orange slices. Instead of swallowing them after each slice she kept storing them in her mouth and then was unable to break them down by chewing or swallow them.

I think what I learned from this was to watch for this in the future when she is eating oranges but also to be aware of what may be in her mouth before I lay her down in a prone position on her back.

While I remained calm and did what needed to be done during the event, I wanted to really let out a good cry after it was over. I withheld it (mostly) in front of Elizabeth and then only partially released the awful build-up when my husband returned home from a quick trip to the store (which is where he was when the incident took place). May this experience be our last and may you readers never have to share in a similar one yourselves.