A ton of stuff

It really has been too long since I have updated and posted pictures. As such, this extremely lengthy post will contain a zillion and a half pictures! I attempted to put them in some kind of logical order, but it didn't really work the way that I had planned. So this post is basically a mess, but I really don't feel like fixing it. So I'm not going to. :)

Things are going well, and I feel so incredibly blessed. This past week has truly opened my eyes to how ungrateful I have been for the many things that I have been blessed with. I really need to be so much better than what I am. I feel kind of like a piece of dust...but in a good way. There are so many wonderful people that I know whom are such great examples to me. Wow -- some people truly amaze me. I need to be better!!!

We enjoyed watching General Conference! Well, as much as we could with the kids running around screaming. :) No, they actually behaved pretty well, for the most part. The only down side was that the volume doesn't turn up that high on our laptop, so we had to be pretty much right next to it to hear what was being said. But we managed. Man! Here I am being ungrateful again...at least we HAVE a laptop and internet access to be able to watch conference! :) I swear, President Monson's talk was just for me!!! Sorry.

Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, these pictures are in no particular order. And there are a ton of them.

Bryce is turning into such a chunky happy little joy (that's what I like to refer to him as). :) I just love him so much and I honestly don't know how I would survive without him! He is just so squish-able and kissable and lovable!

He loves the mirror that is hanging in Lizzie's room. A little too much, actually. In fact, I'm surprised that it is still hanging up on its hinge.

Bryce has an obsession with sunglasses. Really. He is constantly bringing them to me to put on. And when I put them on him, he gets the biggest smile on his face!

Here he is, playing peek-a-boo with himself:

Bryce and Lizzie's sunglasses:

I am really laughing out loud right now thinking about what I'm about to explain next. We thought that Lizzie would enjoy taking dance lessons, so we signed her up for a community dance class. The class was for 3 and 4 year-old's. It cost $90! In addition, we had to buy her a leotard, and ballet and tap shoes. But we were fine with the cost because we thought that it would be something fun for Lizzie to do.

Well, before we went to her first class, she got dressed up and I took some pictures of her home:

She was so excited to go to dance class! I kept telling her the entire day before class that she needed to respect her dance teacher and follow her directions. Lizzie assured me that she was going to listen to the teacher and behave.

When we got there, the teacher had all of the little girls choose a star to sit down on. Lizzie immediately chose her star and sat down. The teacher then proceeded to do some basic stretches with the girls. Every girl BUT Lizzie did everything that they were supposed to do. You know, they touched their toes, reached their arms up, etc. Lizzie just sat there and did absolutely nothing but stare at the girl next to her. It was very comical, to say the least.

Words cannot fully express how the remainder of the class went for Lizzie. I seriously can't stop laughing about it! I have realized that there is a HUGE difference between someone who just turned 3 (Lizzie) and someone who is almost 5 (the rest of the girls). :) Lizzie basically did her own thing for the remainder of the class period. She really just wanted to dance and had no idea why everyone else was doing crazy things like walking on their tiptoes in a line, walking around cones, bending their knees up and down, and standing still when the music stopped. In this next picture, you will notice that every girl but Lizzie, of course, is standing in a single-file line. The teacher asked the girls to stand in a line and wait their turn to tip-toe around some cones. Lizzie did not understand this concept! She just wanted to go around the cones...NOW! She was supposed to be at the end of the line, but she kept walking forward and tried to get in front of all of the other girls. The teacher had to continuously walk her back to the end of the line. The rest of the girls were annoyed with her because she was "butting in line". In addition, Lizzie tried to talk with them about her outfit and her new shoes, but they didn't want to talk to her. (Which is kind of sad, really).


Needless to say, the teacher came up to me after class and told me that she thinks that Lizzie is a bit too young for the class and that she should try again in 6 months.

Fine with me! I won't have a problem whatsoever spending the $90 elsewhere! :)

I actually got A LITTLE discouraged yesterday after the dance class. I thought for a minute that something was seriously wrong with Lizzie. Why couldn't she follow directions? Is she doomed forever? Or is this simply a stage that will eventually pass?

Plus, I started "preschool" with her on the same day and realized that she has an incredibly short attention span (she can't focus on anything for longer than 10 -20 minutes). Is this normal for 3-year-olds?

This preschool thing is nothing official, just me trying to teach her a few things. I decided to work on a different letter each week.

This week is the letter:

That's an "A" if you can't tell. I want to try and make a little letter pillow each week. The "A" pillow needs to be redone because I didn't have any stuffing and had to use cotton balls, of all things, to stuff it. Who knows if I'll even continue with the pillow idea, I'll probably get sick and tired of it pretty soon...

She glued goldfish in the shape of an "A".

She practiced forming the letter "A" by with play dough.

I have a variety of "A" activities planned for the week. The internet is very useful for things like this! I'm really excited to be doing "preschool" with Lizzie. She could probably care less and would much rather be watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse instead, but that's besides the point. Right?

This is what the little chunk-a-roo does while I'm attempting to teach Lizzie:

Jon turned 28 TODAY! Hurray! I love it when we are the same age. :) Jon and I went on a date to Red Lobster a couple of days ago in an effort to celebrate. I had never been there before (I'm not much of a seafood person), but Jon loves the place. Particularly because he had the option of ordering an all-you-can-eat shrimp dish. And believe me, he truly did eat all that he could. I got nauseated just watching him! I ordered blackened talapia. It tasted wonderfully fresh and healthy. :)

On Sunday after conference, Jon's family came over and ate dinner with us. I made Jon's birthday cake that day so that we could eat it with his family. The cake turned out considerably better than last year, thanks to a few cake-decorating supplies that Jon gave me for my birthday.

Unfortunately, for is actual birthday, he was sick with a head cold. But he went to work anyway and toughed it out. I always have such a hard time thinking about what to give him for his birthday, or for Christmas. He's tough to shop for! But I surprised him with a noodle-maker (he has wanted one for a while), some treats to for him to take to work, and a book about the Bible. Now I have to start planning for Christmas...


This is a picture of our Halloween countdown pumpkin-man. Lizzie takes off one link every day. When they are all gone, it's Halloween!

Lizzie has been enjoying coloring a lot more than usual lately. She puts so much concentration and effort into the task.

Bryce likes to get in on the action occasionally as well.

Bryce is starting to stack things.

Bryce isn't walking yet, but he loves pushing things around! Especially Lizzie.

Lizzie and I had the opportunity to go to the Stake Mother-Daughter/Sister's campout. It was awesome! We got to "sleep" in cabins, eat delicious food, sit by the fire, walk and walk and walk and walk, and do crafts. I had so much fun with Lizzie-Lou!

I was so busy having fun that I forgot to get my camera out. I just took two pictures.

Picture #1:

Picture #2:

I really wish that I would have taken more pictures! Oh well...next time!

Okay, I think that I am finally about finished. Here are some pictures of Lizzie and Bryce on our playground. They love playing out there!

Hooray! I'm finished!