Trend Setter

When I got Lily out of her bed this morning, this is how she looked.  She was fully zipped and snapped, too.  I'm not sure how she managed that one.  No wonder she was so grumpy during the night!  Oops.  

Aloha, Elder Ale!

Last night we said goodbye to Elder Ale, who was transferred to KC.  He was transferred here about the same time that we moved here and he was one of the first people we met.  We love all of the missionaries, but Elder Ale is awesome.  The kids LOVE him, especially Lily.  (I think he loves the kids just as much, too.)  He has been a fun friend and we will miss him alot.  KC is very lucky to get him.  Aloha a hui hou aku, Elder Ale!

It's That Time of Year...Again

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

We did this last year, but the kids loved it so much, we had to do it again.  This year we all got in on the action.  Never mind that Lily's head looks ready to explode!

Santa Time

We had our Ward Christmas party last night.  At the end there was a very special visitor.  I was interested in seeing how Lily did.  Luckily, she was just very curious.

A Six Year Old Redeemed

Yes, you see correctly.  Paige finally got her pickle.  It was another Pickle Day at Kensler Elementary.  Yummy!  (See October 3rd post.)

Crazy 8 Tag

I am playing major catchup.  My pal Bonny tagged me a very long time ago, so I am finally paying up:

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH

(in no particular order)

1~Top Chef

2~The Biggest Loser

3~The Amazing Race

4~Lost

5~24

6~ANTM (cheesy, I know)

That is all I have time for.  And I usually watch them online, sans commercials!

 

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS

1~El Ricos (only in Queen Creek, AZ)

2~Brick Oven (so many memories~ and suckers!)

3~The Training Table (dipping sauce..need I say more?)

4~Daily Freeze (Payson fav ~ love the fish-n-chips)

5~In-n-Out (I miss the West!)

6~Quizno’s

7~Chipotle

8~Taco Time (another Utah fav)

*note~still working on finding favs in KS

 

8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY

1~ Woke up cold.

2~Ran into a friend from church while freezing at the gas station.

3~Wondered if the weather was a cruel joke.

4~Role played with the missionaries.

5~Cranked the heat at home and snuggled up in a fuzzy blanket.

6~Made breakfast….for dinner.

7~Watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Top Chef.

8~Took a HOT bath and went to bed.

8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO

1~A new nephew in January

2~Warmer weather ;0) (I’ve got a while)

3~Seeing my family  (Someday)

4~Christmas Eve

5~Christmas Morning

6~Lily being in Nursery

7~Paige’s Birthday

8~Moving OUT of this apartment

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST

1~A trip to a warm beach

2~A trip to Italy

3~A house

4~To live closer to family

5~A Disney cruise with the kiddos

6~To live closer to friends

7~Warmer weather ;0)

 

 

8 PEOPLE I AM TAGGING

Any 8 people who want to play!

A Time To Be Thankful

I promise that we are alive and well!  It has been a while since I've posted due to a number of computer issues.  But I didn't want to miss the chance to tell everyone how grateful we are for all of our blessings.  We have too many to name, but here are a few that I am really feeling lately:

~A computer. One that is finally working!

~A job.  Thank you for all of the positive thoughts and prayers.  Rob was not hit by the layoff, unlike about 2000 other families here in Wichita.

~Our family.  I love them all, but we were happy to see my sister Angela last week.  She came to spend Thanksgiving with us, much to the delight of my three children.  She was very patient putting up with all things High School Musical, Thomas the Tank Engine and well, just Lily. :0)  

~The Holiday Season.  It is no secret that we love Christmas in our house.  Rob starts listening to Christmas music in...well, he listens to it all year.  No joke.  It is a great time of year to spend with friends and family and think about all of the things we have together.

~A sleeping baby.  Those mothers out there know what I am talking about.  I love when Lily is asleep.  Not only because I have a moment of peace, but for the peacefulness and innocence on her face.  Even when she falls asleep in her chair in the middle of chaos. 

 

Keep praying!

It's official. Not sure I'm ready for this. Sorry for the quality. Gotta love cell phone video!

Pray for us!

Cessna to lay off 500 workers in Wichita.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27683614/

Halloween 2008

Old laptop + broken keyboard = short post!

Way To Go, Caleb!

Caleb has been drooling over a toy garbage truck at Target for weeks now. (Boys!) So, I decided that I would have him earn it since I didn't think he could wait for Christmas. About 3 weeks ago we got a chart and decided on some chores for him to do. Once he filled in the chart, he would be able to buy the truck. This prooved to be very difficult for him. Part of the deal was that if he even missed one chore, he had to start all over again. He did falter twice, but the third time was the charm for him and he finished his chart on Saturday night. He was soo excited for the whole weekend to buy his truck today. I am so proud of him that he stuck to it and got his reward. Good job, Caleb!

Birthday Celebration

Happy Birthday, Lily

Our Lily is one year old today! She is so sweet and we love having her in our family. Happy Birthday, Lou!

Gasoline Update

I paid 2.17/gallon yesterday. I filled up the Trailblazer for $47!!!!

All Hail to Wichita

It is good to live in the land of cheap gasoline! I even get a 2 cent discount here with my Dillon's card. I paid $1.75 more/gallon than this in Phoenix before we left and we drove ALOT more there than we do here. I've been going to post this for a few days, but the gas keeps dropping. So, this may even go lower too. (Oh, and don't be hatin' that we have a Fred Meyer Jewelry in our GROCERY store!)

Pickle Update

As I mentioned, my kids usually turn their noses up at pickles. However, yesterday Paige had a "change of heart" when she found out they were selling them. They usually sell these items at the end of the day, so I took my .50 with me when I picked Paige up from school. When she comes out, she is frantically running out of the building and says that she needs to go to the office to see if there are any pickles left. I give her the money and wait for her outside. A couple of minutes later, she emerges from the building sobbing. Yes...sobbing. Apparently the pickles are gone. They sold them sometime during the day instead at the end of the day. Oopsie. How was I to know a) that they were sold during school and b) that my new pickle-loving daughter would be devistated if she didn't get her dill fix. I feel bad for her, because I couldn't stop laughing at her crying over a pickle. A.Pickle. But, alas, as I stated before, they are on the calendar again soon. This time the money will accompany her in the morning. Sorry, sis! (And no, that is not Paige in the picture. Just a random Google image.)

A Strange Wichita Palate

Paige's school has had a few Friday fundraisers for the 5th graders. We've seen suckers for sale a couple of times. Popcorn has also been sold. So, Paige comes home today with the granddaddy of them all:

Okay, so my kids usually turn their noses up at pickles, so I may be out of the loop. But, do kids usually count giant dill pickles in their list of favorite foods? I guess they have high hopes, because upon further inspection of the school calendar, pickles will be for sale a number of times throughout the rest of the school year. Go figure. Another quirky Wichita way.

Lily aka Sunny Baudelaire

We have a fairly new table...maybe four months old. We would like it to last a very long time, so we are particularly careful with it. Well, as Rob was wiping it after dinner, he noticed that there were some pretty bad scratches on one of the chairs. It only took a split second to realize the culprit......

I think her new nickname should be Sunny. (The biting baby from the Lemony Snicket series of books.) Apparently, she has been hiding out under the table and sharpening her teeth, among other things.

ANTM, Here I Come!

Okay, so not really. Yesterday was a really hard day. Lily really put me through the ringer with a cold on top of her teething. Needless to say, it was an ugly, smelly, frumpy mommy day. After dinner, Paige and I were watching the end of America's Next Top Model and Paige says, "Mommy, why don't you go on this show?" May my sweet, naive six-year-old never turn sixteen. It was nice to know that she thinks I'm "fierce".

Kansas = Sunflowers

I thought that I would start sharing some things that we are learning about Kansas, so our friends and family could experience some of our discoveries with us. The first is this: before we moved here, I found out that Kansas is the Sunflower State. I admit that having the sunflower represent where I would live was one of the few positive aspects of moving here. (Sorry, Rob.) I love sunflowers. They remind me of my Grandpa Francom, who grew huge sunflowers in his garden every year. (The kind that produce the seeds we eat.) I also love the feeling they project. Anything with the word sun in it warms up the room. (Okay...maybe not sunburn.) So, upon moving here, I now fully understand why this is the Sunflower State.They use the sunflower in EVERYTHING here. From their state flag,

to welcoming you,

to their sporting events,

and even in the police logo. You literally see them scattered on the side of almost every road, even in town. So, if their is ever a place that you could get sick of them, we have found it. Lucky for me that I love them.

1st Day of Preschool

I'm a little behind, but Caleb started preschool last week. He has been talking about going to school since Paige started Kindergarten last year. He LOVES it and asks me almost everyday if he gets to go to school today. I can't believe he will start Kindergarten himself next year. Two kids in school!!!

The Terrible....Ten Months????

I was in my bedroom the other day and heard a loud crash, followed by silence. As I was grumbling Caleb's name, I came upon this scene...



Oh, boy! What do I have in store?

Strange Sleeping Habits

Caleb has always been one to fall asleep anywhere. For some reason he would rather sleep on the floor next to his bed, rather than actually in his bed. So, last night I went in their room to check on them before heading off to bed and this is what I found:

Now he has taken to sleeping under his bed, not just on the floor. Here are some other funny places he has fallen asleep:

In his car seat, eating a gummy worm

Alot of naps on the couch

Even in time-out
I just realized that he is wearing the same outfit in two different instances. Hmmm, if I need him to take a nap I'll need to pull out his "pirate shirt".

Labor Day 2008

It wasn't Onion Days, but we managed to still have fun.

Home, Sweet Home

Just a couple of pictures of our apartment....


Our apartment is right behind the blue truck.

This is the dock on the complex fishing lake. Our complex is in the background.

This is a pretty typical sunset here. Always beautiful.

This is a "river" (actually a floodway) behind our complex. There are tons of rivers, ponds and lakes here. Very different than Phoenix.

1st Grade

Paige started school a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe she is in 1st grade. Even more scary: Caleb in Kindergarten next year. Paige was really nervous about not knowing anyone. But, she loves it now. Her teacher is Mrs. Dix and she has a therapy dog that comes into her class twice a week. (Paige + Animal = Heaven) She also met a friend that was also new to the school... Erin Perry. I think it was meant to be.

Happy Birthday, Shark Boy!

Caleb turned 4 on August 12th. Bless his heart! I feel so bad that it was such an anti-climatic event. He has been begging for a shark cake for weeks. However, after searching the booming metropolis that is Wichita, I came up empty handed. So, I had to improvise. It is very evident that my High School Cooking class should have spent a little longer on cake decorating. At least Caleb was pleased with the end result. That is all that matters, right. We started the day off with Caleb's favorite breakfast: German pancakes with strawberries. He would eat them everyday for all three meals, if I let him. After that we went to the kid's science museum called the Exploration Place, where Caleb settled in playing with, can you guess....the trains. That night we threw a little family party where he was able to open his gifts and have cake/ice cream. I think it turned out for him, and at least we weren't still in the hotel.

We Made It!

After a very long two days, we completed our trek from Gilbert to Wichita. Thank heaven that we didn't have to go much further. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get into our apartment right away. So, we had live out of a hotel for a week. I do not recommend staying in a hotel, unless you are on vacation. Feeding Lily was challenging...hence the carrot storm.

The kids were real troopers. It isn't easy for kids to be stuck in a hotel for so long. We were all very stir crazy.

It was so helpful to have my amazing mom help out on our journey. I really don't know what we would have done without her. (Pull my hair out, most likely.) Anyway. We have alot of catching up to do, so let the posts begin....

We're Off To See The Wizard

We have set out on our adventure to Kansas. So, I will be out of commission for awhile. When we get up and going, I will be back.

NINE MONTHS OLD

9 months and still going strong

Height: 93%

Weight: 99.5% :0)

Nine reasons we love Lily:

1~ Her sweet dispostion (except while teething ;o)

2~ Her two very sharp teeth and the four more that are breaking

3~ Her crawling....I think

4~ The way she LOVES to watch Paige and Caleb

5~ That no matter how hard she is crying, if you sing Itsy, Bitsy Spider to her, she smiles

6~ The funny way she dances (think Night at the Roxbury)

7~ How FLEXIBLE she is (she doesn't get that from me!)

8~ She refuses to eat baby food, but will never refuse food from your plate

9~ Her thighs...need I say more?

Our sweet Lily is nine months old today. I really can't believe she has been with us almost a year.