Sunday, January 27, 2008

Hinckley ... only prophet I have known!!




This evening we received the sad news that President Hinckley passed away. He has been the only prophet I have only known as I have only been a part of this church for 12 years. I am saddened by the news, he always seemed to be talking directly to me when giving his conference talks--I can only imgine how the rest of you felt. I am sure the heavens rejoiced to receive him home. We too should rejoice as well, as we were able to be a part of one of the most influential, caring prophets and, I believe, the most loved. He will be missed, and has left some huge shoes to fill.


Russ got the assignment to tell Gracie what happened. Her response was, "I want to die too, and live with Jesus and Brother Hinckley in Heaven!"


A couple of cool Hinckley quotes:

“This is my prayer for all of us—'Lord, increase our faith.' Increase our faith to bridge the chasms of uncertainty and doubt. . . . Grant us faith to look beyond the problems of the moment to the miracles of the future. . . . Give us faith to do what is right and let the consequence follow.”
"Prevention is better than cure."

Thursday, January 17, 2008

As some of you know Grace loves to read her "bookies", a friend of mine let me borrow her daughters "my Reverance book". It is this cute little book with a variety of pictures of the temple, jesus, prophets, 13 articles of faith, family pics and of children with Christ etc. etc. etc.. Next to the pictures there are scpritures that correspond to the pic., it's use is mainly for reverant sacrament entertainment. These are the cutest books, I love them! Well long story short I caught Grace reading her's yesterday and thought a few of you would enjoy it. Listen closely ...

If you want a book or information on the book go to www.the handcartco.com.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

You can lead a toddler to the potty but you can't make em go!

Day One of Potty training, Teachers log:

I have bought the necessary tools for potty training. My list consists of Six pairs of princess/pokadot/striped underwear, one pack of princess huggies pull up diapers, play dough, markers, DVDs to watch and lots of potty books. What will I do with the items besides the obvious ones you ask? Well we are camping out at home for four days or five or six, however long it takes to get this thing done so we need lots of entertainment and activities to do as we sit here anticipating the next potty break. I hear the best thing to do is to stay at home, close to a potty and let them run around in the big girl underwear until they get it. I am shooting for a four day max training camp , we will see what the little Ms. has in store for me. Wish me luck!

to be continued...

Follow up to day one: SHE WENT POTTY IN THE BIG GIRL POTTY!!! AHHHHH, I feel so accomplished as a mother. We did the potty dance, which consisted of a lot of booty shaking in a circular motion (Russ taught me that move). We high fived and then called dad with joy in our voices!!! I am so pumped! Day two here we come!

Day Two: Totally deflated! UGH. Not once has she gone in the potty and it is now 3:50. She has gone potty alright, just not in the designated area. I am going to keep it real for you future potty trainers, this is not as easy as it had presented itself to be. I am not giving up though, I am in it for the long haul or until I have pulled out all of my hair with frustration.
End of day two: Not one potty incident to report, just a whole lot of frustration. I now it is only day two really day one of a full day of potty training but it is hard business. One: you get cooped up being home all day. Two: you would think it would be a simple task, take them to the potty sit em down, they go pee. Not in the least bit, it goes more like this,put them on the potty they refuse to bend their legs to sit while screaming in your ear, I don't force it but then she runs to the corner of the room and pees. Deflation. Hopefully tomorrow will be bring a turn of events.

Day Four: As you can see I skipped a day, day three was actually pretty good because I had Russ here to encourage both Grace and I. I have to say having your spouse near by to back you up and encourage you makes a world of difference. We revamped the program, instead of running around and just letting her pee until she hates the feeling of being wet we decided to remind her every fifteen to twenty minutes that she needs to go. Grace sat on the potty I would about 70% of the day on Saturday, ugh. We have only had one accident since Friday though!! I have had to remind her like every hour that she needs to go potty, we aren't to the point where she tells us BUT at least she is going "in" the potty. Books and play dough have been my biggest tool and saving grace. I realize now that we still have some days left ahead of us in the whole process, we are getting there though and that's all that matters.

I hope this particular entry helps future potty trainers know that it is a time consuming often times frustrating task, however, it is so rewarding to watch your child accomplish this goal. Grace is excited, surprised and proud every time she hears herself going potty. My advise at the end of the day is; GOOD LUCK, stay sane and try and have fun with it!!!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Juno, Best Movie Ever!!

Just go see the movie, my review would do it no justice. For now I have sampled a few one liners from the movie that I found quote worthy, best movie I've seen hands down~

"As far as boyfriends go, Paulie Bleeker is totally boss. He is the cheese to my macaroni. "

"You should've gone to China, you know, 'cause I hear they give away babies like free iPods. You know, they pretty much just put them in those t-shirt guns and shoot them out at sporting events."

"That ain't no etch-a-sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, homeskillet. "

Juno MacGuff:Uh, dad?
Mac MacGuff: Yeah?
Juno MacGuff: Either I just wet my pants... or...
Mac MacGuff: "Or"...?
Juno MacGuff: Or... THUNDERCATS ARE GO!

"Oh, and she inexplicably mails me a cactus every Valentine's Day. And I'm like, "Thanks a heap coyote ugly. This cactus-gram stings even worse than your abandonment."

"I could so go for like a huge cookie right now, with like, a lamb kabob simultaneously.

Juno MacGuff: Wow your shorts are like especially gold today.
Paulie Bleeker: My mom uses color safe bleach.
Juno MacGuff: Go Carol.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Given up the Sauce


I sat down to write out my new years reso's and a lot of them are hefty but the one I would like to make mention of ... the one I am most proud of and sad about is ... NO MORE Coca Cola. Yes you heard it here, I am giving up the sauce!! I think my fellow coke drinkers will be largely disappointed however I am most excited to relay the message to my good pal, healthy nut extraordinaire ... Jaime Boyce. The big drive to give up the sauce is this new cook book I found called Eat Clean. I suggest you get it, it has some pretty yummy recipes, trust me when I say that because I have the taste buds of a two year old. Funny when you give up something, you begin to realize how much you craved it and needed it. I went to the store today and saw a can of coke in the coolers and there it sat in it's pretty red can, dripping condensation, calling out my name. I managed to go to the next check out clerks line who's cooler only had water and energy drinks. I picked up a bottle water and turned my back on the coke. I was proud and sad. I don't think I need to check into rehab just yet, I just figured I should give it up before my husband has to call the tv show "intervention" (quality tv by the way) to come in and clean me up. I hope you all follow through with your new years resolutions and that 2008 is productive and meaningful!