Popsicles!!!!

We've had a fun week. A busy week, but a fun one. On Memorial Day, we did NOTHING!!!! Daddy was home and we went no where and just spent all day cleaning and playing at home. It was sooo nice! No commitments, nothing. Just having fun being together. We had a water fight for Family Home Evening and then the kids got a real treat - Popsicles!! We don't eat stuff like that much, so the kids LOVED it! Below are some pictures of them enjoying their popsicles.

These are some scrapbooking pages that I've done this week. Eileen has been scrapbooking with me while the other kids nap. She sits in my lap and tell me where to put each picture and which papers to use and where to put the cute little embellishments. It's been fun doing this together as mommy/daughter bonding time. Plus these are about the only pic I took this week, so I figured I'd let you see the more interesting versions! :)


So Tuesday was Eileen's Last day of Preschool (yes I took pics of this, but they aren't all that impressve and I'm gonna scrap them later!) Eileen had tons of fun. We did a little party with ice cream, and gave them their little certificates of completion. She's had so much fun doing this, but is so sweet and optimistic about the changes that will happen for next year.

Wednesday we spent the morning at our friends house and got to make YUMMY pizza's for lunch! (Lori - AWESOME idea, the kids LOVED it!!)

Thurdsay we met Dan at school for his BPA end of year party for the students and had fun running around, and eating more pizza. (though not as good as Lori's)

Friday was Library Day!! The kids LOVE going to the library. They love looking at books and choosing books to put in their bags. They love being read to and "reading" to me. After we went to the playground to play and eat lunch and met Lori and Evonne for a nice picnic. The kids love getting together with friends and running out their excess energy!! (haha, I like it too for that matter!)

Saturday was our Stake Enrichment Conference. It was AWESOME!! I was asked to be part of a musical number for the opening part and was so glad I went! The spiritual uplift was incredible and even though the kids (and Dan) missed me all morning, I think they will find them selves glad to find a mommy who is in a much better mood! :P

Today of course we had some great lessons and speakers in church and I'm so grateful for these opportunities I've had to 'fill my lamp' and to prepare for another week.

This is the last week of school for Dan and we are looking forward to a week off before he starts Summer School.

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Ok, so Dan's birthday is on the 19th. The day of, he took the day off work and we spent the day playing together and just relaxing. We walked around the pet store with the kids and laughed as they got excited over every animal they saw. Then we spent the afternoon playing together and making daddy's cake. Finally we had a few friends over that evening for cake and Ice Cream. Dan and Eileen tried to make a pinata together for the kids to whack at during the party. They had a rough start of it, because they couldn't get it to dry, but eventually they just used it with its one layer of paper mache and it worked since most of the kids were under 8. They played with water balloons and just had lots of fun!

Saturday we celebrated again with my parents by spending the morning on the boat. Dan, Eileen and my dad were the only ones brave enough to get in the cold water. Dan took Anna and Aaron out in the tube (which was ok with Anna because she wasn't actually 'in' the water)

Today we got a new Bishop, since the old one got called into the Stake Presidency. It was a really neat experience and a great Sacrement Meeting....I just wish I could have heard some of it.... I think that we are the ward joke now. Today during the Sacrement, Anna and Aaron bonked heads pretty good and started crying loudly. After about 10 seconds Dan and I couldn't get them calmed down. We exchanged glances, picked up all 3 kids and walked out. Everyone in the ward (ourselves, the Stake Presidency and the Bishopbric included) were trying VERY hard not to laugh out loud. We were quite a sight. Me with a girl in each arm and Dan with Aaron.

It's A.......

GIRL!! :) This one was less of an exhibitionist that the others and kept her legs tight together making it hard to see for awhile. Finally the tech was able to get a clear view and the verdict was that it's a girl! Eileen was literally jumping up and down when we told her. It was so cute!! The Tech and the Doc both said that the baby's development looks normal, Mommy's size is just right and so far all is going well. Here is the little one's profile from the Sonogram.

Cute Ears

So about a week ago Eileen came to me and told me that she wanted to look like Vivi. (Vivi is a little girl who is a friend of ours) It took me a few questions to figure out what she meant. Eventually she told me that she wanted her ears to be pretty like Vivi's (Vivi's ears are pierced.) So we talked about pierced ears and how that worked and what it meant, then I asked her if she really wanted to do it. She said yes. I wondered how long this would last. Well, she talked of almost nothing else all week. So tonight for Family Home Evening we talked about what the prophet has said about piercings. Who should have them (girls, not boys) and how many earrings (only one pair) were ok. Then we packed the kids into the car and went to the local Claire's to get my little girls ears pierced.

Eileen was soo good. She sat patiently and still while they marked her ears and then the ladies pierced both ears at once. Eileen just sat there and smiled. The look she got on her face when she saw them in the mirror was just priceless. The picture doesn't do her justice (I couldn't seem to catch the really excited faces she made on film) She was soo excited!! So cute and so brave. She decided on a course of action, got permission, and followed through. Now we just gotta care for them!

Now Anna had heard her sister talking about this for the last week and a couple of days ago, she decided that she wanted pierced ears too. So after Eileen was done we asked her if she was sure about this and she yelled YESSSS then hopped into the chair and proceeded to bounce around like crazy while they readied things. She sat still long enough for them to put the dots on her ears, then mommy helped hold her head while they did both her ears at once too. She sat there, and then about 20 seconds after they pierced them, she started crying. So momy held her for a minute and we showed her the mirror and gave her a sucker and she was happy. 10 minutes later she had forgotten them. LOL So now my little girls have pierced ears and they look so grown up to me I can hardly believe it! We let them run around the play area for awhile and then went home where we cleaned their ears and sent them to bed. Now mommy is headed to bed after an exhasuting day!!

Life.... yiippie! :P

Ok, so this was one of those crazy busy weeks where nothing really happens.... Preschool was at our house this week for the last time (YEY!!!!!!) Which meant that Tuesday and Thursday were "exhaust mommy" days. Wednesday was our usual play date. We had a blast as always and enjoyed the company of friends. And Friday we went to the library. We met some friends there and then went to the playground for lunch and fun. Needless to say, we all went home tired, but happy!

I made a decision this week with potty training Anna. After trying unsuccessfully to potty train her for the last 7 months (or so) I decided that all poopy panties, and wet clothes and somewhere between 1 and 3 accidents EVERY day, that it wasn't worth it. I decided that for my health and hers that I wasn't going to do it any more. So we are un-potty training Anna. She is back in diapers. She can have a diaper change if she wants one, and she can use the potty if she asks, but until she learns to tell us when she needs to go, I'm not going to do it. She knows how to use it, but if she doesn't want to, i'm not going to push it. I figure that eventually she will want her panties and want to be a big girl and she will make the decision, and until then, I am going to wait..... What prompted this change of heart? A childrens book that i picked up at the library called the 'Princess and the Potty'.

Saturday was fun as usual. We always LOVE having daddy home. Daddy and Eileen decided to make a pinata for Dan't birthday.... so far we have a half paper mache- ed ballon that won't dry on our counter top, but Eileen is VERY excited and so now we're hoping this works....

By the way, these pics are just totally random pics from this week with no relation to what the blog post is about... but hey, they're cute!

Conversation of the Day...

Well, really there are two of them... Both with Eileen. :)

Daddy: Eileen we need to stop and get gas
Eileen: Why do we need to stop and get gas?
Daddy: Well, because we are out of gas.
Eileen: Are we out of gas or almost out of gas?
Daddy: Well, it's on empty, so we are out of gas.
Eileen: Then how are we going?
Daddy: ok so we have a little bit left...
Eileen: So you were wrong and I was right!!! :)


Conversation number two...

Eileen: Mommy can you get this out of the plastic?
Mommy: ummm, ok I'll try.
(opens it up and one of two pieces comes out)
Mommy: How's that.
Eileen: Good... but you were supposed to get the ball out too!

My Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, I woke to the traditional yummy heart shaped biscuits for breakfast. The kids of course had helped making then and Eileen was so sweet as she handed mommy the biggest one! I then got to walk outside and see the gift that Eileen and Daddy had spent ALL afternoon on Saturday working on. Eileen would help carry things and help dig, and come in and tell mommy how she was being Daddy's big helper with my "surprise dirt!" She even came in so excited about the pill bug she found in my "surprise dirt." Don't worry, I got more than dirt for Mother's Day. I got the beginning of my retaining wall in our back yard! Dan and I have a list of improvements we would like to make in the back yard eventually, and this was one of them. It's so exciting to see our yard becoming what we have dreamed for it! ...Now if I could just get something to grow in our garden....

The primary kids sang today at church. Eileen was so cute up there. every time they sang "I love you" she would reach out and point to me. Dan also spoke at church about mothers and motherhood (making me sound good) at one point, he quoted someone suggesting that kids should show their love for their mothers often by throwing their arms around them and saying "I love you" Eileen immediately dropped what she was doing and did just that!

Now for the fun. I asked Eileen some questions about me and here are her answers....

What's your mom's favorite dinner?
Eileen - Dutch babies (that's what we had for dinner tonight....)

What makes your mom happy?
Eileen - Me cracking the eggs for her (once again she is talking about making the dutch babies...)

What's the nicest thing you've ever done for your mom?
Eileen - Me reading books to her (she wanted to say the same thing as the last question, but I made her come up with something different)

What's your favorite thing to do with your mom?
Eileen - Play games, read books and snuggle

What's the best Mother's Day present you could give to your mom?
Eileen - a flower (and she did give me a flower! A lovely yellow weed flower from our yard!)

What's you mom's favorite primary song?
Eileen - How Firm a Foundation

If your mom had a million dollars, what would she buy?
Eileen - A pet fish (a what!!!!????? that's one pampered fish!!)

Gotta love the sweetness and wisdom of 4 year olds!!!

Hair, and Hugs

This week started out fun. Dan had an in-service day, so he had a couple meetings, but was able to spend some time with us. We all went down and met him at Gatti Town for lunch. The kids LOVED it and LOVED even more getting to ride in the little train as we left. We then got our hands stamped and came back for dinner! They both loved getting to watch movies as they ate and getting to eat Mac and Cheese!

The next day I woke up and found Eileen and Anna at the table and Eileen had a stack of note paper that she was coloring on. As she sat there, she explained to Anna that she was coloring Hugs for Great Grandpa Francone and that she had to be careful and make them extra special for him. (So Grandpa, I have a ever growing stack of Hugs and pictures that Eileen has drawn especially for you and wants to give to you!) She is so sweet!!! Both girls have been on a hair-doing kick lately. Eileen has discovered that she can do Anna's hair as well as her own, and Anna wants to do mommy's hair at least once a day! (Mommy has a lot less hair now - OUCH! - but it's so cute!!) I found Anna one morning with this adorable hair-do courtesy of her sister! (note that you have to click on it and see it close up to get the full effect!)

Aaron found the swing this weekend. He needed a bit of help to get up on it, but then he was ectatic!!! He just hung there grabbing the grass and giggling! Aaron was also my big helper. This morning as I was getting out the broom to sweep up breakfast, he got VERY excited about sweeping. So i handed him the broom and he pushed it around the floor for a few minutes before Daddy made him stop to get his diaper changed!!

And the Rain, Rain, Rain, Came Down, Down,Down

This has been a rainy week for us and the kids just HATE being cooped up indoors!! They love being able to play outside. Monday, it rained all morning and so we decided that we would go splash in the puddles for our FHE activity. After songs and scriptures, we got decked out in rain boots and went to find some puddles. Aaron was a bit hesitant at first. He wasn't sure what we wanted him to do, but once he saw his sisters splashing, he was very excited! A half hour later we came home with 3 soaked kids and threw them in the bath tub where they got so splash around even more!

The kids are growing up fast!! Eileen has learned how to put pony tails in her own hair. She will go get one of my pony tail holders and put her own hair up, then she finds all her bows and clips and stands in front of my mirror and puts them in her hair. It is so cute!! :) And of course, she loves it when I take her picture. She also loves reading. When she gets up in the morning, the first thing she does is come out and find a book and lay on the floor reading her books. (most of them she has heard so often, that she has them memorized!)

Anna is so funny, she can't seem to decide if she wants to be just like her big sister or different from her. She goes from wanting to do everything Eileen is doing, to wanting everything different in a blink of an eye. But I guess part of toddler-hood is changing your mind every 3 seconds.... :) She is slowly getting better at potty training, though she still needs me to tell her when to go, at least she goes when I ask her to...usually....

Aaron is so much fun! He follows his sisters everywhere! He loves playing outside in the dirt and on the slide, which means he also likes the newly formed mud a bit too much!! He loves to talk and is getting pretty good at making his wants known. The only problem comes when he can't have what he wants.... He's also getting VERY good at tantrums! (which means that mommy is getting pretty good at ignoring tantrums!) He also loves being read to, but only by daddy! He is such a daddy's boy sometimes.

Yesterday, in the morning, we took the kids to the play area at the mall for a bit. (We figured this way we might keep the mud off our newly vacuumed and swept and mopped floors for at least an hour!) During nap time I was to meet my mom and sister to take my sister out for Manicures and Pedicures. Eileen didn't want me to leave her behind, so I brought her with me. She was soo interested in everything. She wanted to see exactly what the ladies were doing and examine everything. She picked out the polish for all of us. Finally when I was done and we were waiting on my Sister to be finished, I asked if they could do a kids pedicure on her. She was SO excited!! She sat there on the edge of the huge chair swinging her legs and talking to the lady about everything she could think of. She was very certain just how she wanted things done and got her toes polished to match mommies. So here is the final shot, our toes after we both got our little pedicures. Not something that will be a regular occurance (I hardly ever get them either!) but something that we enjoyed, my mom and sister loved having her there and watching her with her inquisitive nature and sweet spirit, and it was a nice girl bonding afternoon.