Fat Lips, Fadoo Fairies, and Fiascos

 What a week.  Sometimes I feel like a week is so short but then when I think back I can't believe so much happened.

Lately I have been trying to be more proactive about doing my chores.  I have found that in doing this I have felt much much more productive come bedtime.  We have started having Elsy help more with the chores this last week too.  She takes her plate to the sink (she threw a big fit at first but now that she knows she can do it its a lot better), helps fold the laundry (she just rolls things up haha), makes her bed (rolls her blanket up while I make it), and we are even trying to have her clean up her room before she goes to bed each night.  I figure I should take advantage of this time while she still loves to help and make it a habit before it gets to be to much of a chore for her.  We have been practicing her taking her clothes off and on but this one is really frustrating for her. 

  

Wednesday was kinda a rough day for me.  We were out of milk so I started it off with some half and half with my cereal.  Then at Costco someone told me I had a screw in my tire (thank goodness for kind people), then when I got home from Costco I found out that my laundry detergent leaked in my trunk, I made a dessert for Activity Days that we didn't eat, someone yelled at me for driving across a crosswalk without stopping for them, and I wasn't able to make dinner because I had to go to Les Schwab to get the tire fixed before driving all the activity day girls to the temple.  It ended with Elsy falling on her face and getting a fat lip while she was at mutual with Logan and it hurting her so she didn't go to sleep until almost 11pm and Logan heroically killing three large spiders in the garage and catching a rat in the garden trap.  Aye yi yi.  

Some days are better left to forget about... but it's like they say you can't know good without the bad.  Going to the temple with the Activity Day girls was actually really wonderful.  I went with two of the other leaders, Janalee and Lacie.  Janalee taught the girls about the history of the temple and the symbolism in the architecture.  We took pictures of each girl in front of the temple and then they all got to write in their journals.  The evening started out a little rough (girls climbing on statues and running off the paths) but once the sun started to set and it got darker the mood changed to reverence.  The girls began singing "I Love To See the Temple" as they walked around.  At the end we went to the west side of the temple where it says "Holiness to the Lord, the House of the Lord".  By then it was completely dark and the temple was so bright.  Us leaders shared our testimonies with the girls and it was so special.  I hope each of those girls remember that day for a long time. :)

Now back to that fat lip.  I feel like this picture does not do the fat lip justice.  It was a dosey and she was in so much pain. We finally got the little girl to bed but when we did we discovered she couldn't suck on her beloved pacifier.  She would just cry and cry and say "It hurts!  It hurts!"  She was crying because her mouth hurt but I think she was crying the most because she couldn't user her pacifier.  For a while now she has only been allowed to have her fadoo (a word for pacifier my family used) at bedtime and nap time.  But she was totally addicted to it.  During the day she would say "Mommy I getting seepy!" (sleepy) in hopes of me letting her go lay in bed with her pacifier (which I don't get because I never let her do that anyway so I don't know why she hoped...)  She would tell she was sleepy whenever she was sad or bored or actually tired.  

Anyway, Logan and I had been talking about having the Fadoo Fairy come soon.  I had gotten the idea from Pinterest to have a fairy take the pacifiers because it makes it really exciting but also takes the blame off of your shoulders. "Oh I'm sorry you want your fadoo, but the Fadoo Fairy took them all!"  You are not the bad guy. *wink *wink  We wanted to do it but weren't sure of when we wanted to take away the pacifier because I was afraid of Elsy dropping her nap (my cherished time of the day).  Well, after almost two hours of Elsy crying I decided that she couldn't have her fadoo anyway so might as well take advantage of the moment.  Luckily we had already explained to her about the Fadoo Fairy to get her familiar with the idea.  I told her tonight was the night.  She seemed a little concerned but also a little excited.

Well, that night I woke up and decorated her room with streamers.  The bad thing about deciding on a whim to have the Fadoo Fairy come is you are not prepared.  I had two balloons and three water balloons that we blew up to put on the floor... and one of the big balloons popped because it was so old. Grrrr. Originally I had wanted to get helium balloons but oh well.  We also didn't have the toy that the fairy was supposed to leave (she takes the pacifiers and leaves a gift).  So Logan made a ticket for her.  We told her she could take it to the store the next morning and pick out anything she wanted.  The next morning she again seemed a little concerned when we told her all her fadoos were gone but that soon became excitement as she got to enjoy the rainbow streamers and think about what she wanted to get at the store.  Sadly Logan accidentally took Elsy's car seat to work with him so we had to wait to cash in the ticket.

So next time we do the Fadoo Fairy I will be getting the gift first.  Learn from my mistake:  Don't give your kid a ticket and tell them they can get whatever toy they want at the store.  They WILL choose the most expensive thing they can find.  Luckily I was able to talk her down from an amazing Ariel doll that glowed and sang and swam and could dance and fly and have full on conversations and turn everything she touched into gold (okay she couldn't do all that but she could to a lot of stuff for a pretty penny) and we got a set of Disney Magiclip dolls instead.

She has had her moments but the transition has been relatively uneventful.  I am so proud of her for sleeping on her own.  If she is having a hard time I tell her that sometimes I have a hard time falling asleep too and when I have a hard time I "Close my eyes, snuggle in my blankets, and wait."  Haha it is so cute to see her doing those three things.  Naps have been a little rougher but she is getting better at going to sleep on her own so... fingers are crossed and naps are still happening thus far.

Still, I am going to miss hearing Elsy talk her jibber jabber from behind her fadoo (sa-ooo is actually how she says it because she can't say her f's).  And when she says her prayers at night she would lean her head way back and then have it fall forwards and spit her fadoo out and say "Patooey!" so she could pray.  But it has been fun having her sing songs with me at night instead of just listening.  I had no idea she knew all the words!

The princess and the frog!! I wish these were their Halloween costumes but Tommy had his feet pretty squished in this costume my friend Whitney gave me.  So now we will have to think of something else.  

We headed to Cottage Lake park on Friday to play but apparently they tore the toy out to build a new one and the lake was blocked off  because of "Toxic Algae".  Uh, things haven't gone my way this week at all. So we headed to the library instead.  We try to go every other week or so anyway to get new fun books.  Elsy loves to look at books so we are always looking for a fresh crop.  Tommy had so much fun pulling the drawers of books out and in and out and in in the kid section.  And I just love that first picture of him.  That is his classic face he is always making at me.  Adorable.

Because I was busy on Thursday making handouts for a Relief Society activity and also making a dessert and then going to the activity... I forgot to get a babysitter for Logan and my date on Friday night.  We couldn't find one on such short notice but decided to go out anyway.  Bad idea.  B-A-D.  After walking all over town to five, FIVE! different restaurants we finally found one that would take minors and didn't have a super long wait.  We ended up at Canyons and I don't think we will ever go again, not because the food was bad but because we just had a hard time with the kids.  By the time we got there Logan was in his own words "Hangry" while I was in adventure mode... and by the time we were done eating he was chipper and I was quite frazzled because the children.  (Tom kept sliding out of the high chair and had to sit and buck me while I ate and Elsy was climbing the walls)  Logan and I decided the experience was expensive in more ways than just one and that it was the antithesis of a date and should never be done again.  We rented the new Cinderella movie and had a wonderful date night in after the kids were in bed instead.

On Saturday we went to Rattlesnake Lake.  It usually is a lot bigger,  but a dry summer made the lake shrink down really low.

We packed the kids and took them out.  We didn't do as much hiking as we had planned but it was still fun.

Packed some sandwiches for dinner!

Elsy and Logan were content to throw tons of rocks in the water.  Elsy got good and muddy.  I hope you can see her crazy face in that  first picture.  She is such a character. It was just beautiful to be out in the mountains.  There are so many lovely creations.  One of the nice things about living in Western Washington is having so many beautiful places to visit.

Our week ended today with nursery being cancelled due to a Hand, Foot, and Mouth plague going around in our stake.  It made for some excitement in all the classes I think, what with having the little kids around.  But I was still able to feel the Spirit.  Lately I have been having a lot of personal struggles and this morning while nursing Tommy the song "I Know My Father Lives" randomly came to my mind and the words really touched me.  Then, for the closing hymn, we sang the exact same song in Sacrament Meeting.  I couldn't help but realize that the Lord was trying to tell me something through the words of that song.

"I know my Father lives

and loves me too.

The Spirit whispers this to me 

and tells me it is true,

and tells me it is true.

He sent me here to Earth

by faith to live his plan.

The Spirit whispers this to me

and tells me that I can,

and tells me that I can."

I am so grateful for music.  Almost always the answers to my prayers and questions come through the lyrics or feelings of a song.  I know as we remember the Lord loves us and go throughout our days with faith in His plan, even when things are hard or don't seem to b e going our way, we will experience the most joy.

Last Hurrah of Summer

This week we had a mix of rain and sunshine but I feel like the heat has been on the decline.  Yesterday (Saturday) it was in the 80s but I think that will be the last we see of that kind of warm.  So we tried to do things in the sunshine this week.

One of the things we did was work in the garden.  Sadly, our pumpkin plant got blight so we had to pull it out and harvest our two pumpkins.  One is very green but Elsy wants to eat the orange one.  I think its fun that she wants to eat it instead of carve it because she only knows that we eat what we grown in our garden and can't remember last Halloween.  I love her hot, rosy cheeks in this picture.  She just got new rain boots and was tramping all around in them.  I was pretty proud of her for figuring out how to put them on by herself.

In other news we got a new table!  Thanks Logan and Cameron for spending forever putting it all together.  World Market was having a big sale and I just fell in love with this table.  Sadly I spent all the money I was saving for over a year for a new couch to get it. :*(  But Logan said a bigger table is a better investment right now because we have plenty of room on the couches (even though they are nasty green) but we never had room at the table to have people over for dinner.  Our old table only seated four and with Logan and I, plus Elsy in a booster seat that left room for one guest.

I absolutely love it!  I ended up re-arranging it the next morning to have only two chairs on each side and then one on each end to make it look less crowded.  Now I am super excited to have the missionaries over for dinner tomorrow.

First meal/breakfast at the new table!  Elsy has been having parfaits for breakfast every morning for like a month.  She loves "parssays".

So as many of you may know Saturday was the National Day of Service.  Our ward put on a carnival at an old folks home and it was so much fun!  Elsy loved telling everyone "I'm two 'n a half!" and was very talkative.  She had fun licking her sucker and learned to play croquet.  

Tom was on his best behavior as well.  He has become Logan's best little buddy lately.  Every time he sees his daddy he flaps his arms and growls in excitement (all forms of communication for Tom are a growl they just have different levels of intensity for happiness, sadness, anger, distress, etc.)  Tommy will hear Logan come home from work and stop what he is doing and just look for Logan.  He also will get sad when Logan walks away from him.  It is just the sweetest.

Later that afternoon we decided to have our last hurrah for summers end.  We went to Idylwood park and Elsy swam in Lake Sammamish with Logan wadding along behind.  Elsy is fearless when it comes to the water... which is why Logan had to trail so close and make a quick dive for her when she fell head first into some boat waves.

Tom got to eat all the sand he wanted again.  He is proving to be 100% less dainty than Elsy ever was.

We ended our summer's end outing with a trip to Panera.  Elsy was not cooperating for taking a picture.  She never does actually which is frustrating.  Panera has become a family favorite of ours and maybe we go there more than we should.  After the kids went to bed Logan and I ended our evening with a double feature of a Top Gear special.  It was a good week I think!

Grandpa's 80th Birthday

This week we came home to visit for my Grandpa's 80th birthday party.  Carl John Volmer was born on September 6th, 1935.  He is a pretty great grandpa. 

All of his children were able to come and a lot of us cousins were there too.  It was so much fun to see everyone.  My aunts did an awesome job decorating and putting together a program.

The 80 had pictures of everyone including the great-grandchildren.

And of course Aunt Kathy never fails with her cake skills.  My only regret was going home without getting another carrot cupcake. Delish.

We had a catered dinner of salmon and ribs.  Super tasty!!

These were the placemats for each seat.  There was a bunch of information about the year my grandpa was born.  

Mom eating the yummy carrot cupcakes.

The program was absolutely wonderful.  My sister Leisha and cousin Mark did a clogging number.  Leisha borrowed one of my great grandma Merkley's square dancing dresses complete with red lacy bloomers.  There were some musical numbers by my cousins, uncle, and aunt.  I also got to sing a song called "Little Things Mean A Lot" by Kitty Kallen.  I haven't sung a solo in so long so I was really nervous but ended up having fun. 

My dad gave Elsy and Ezra these huge suckers.  They were in heaven.

Aunt Jenny pinning the birthday badge onto Grandpa.

I am so glad we were able to come.  The evening was full of smiling faces. :)  I was worried about my kids but they were so good the whole evening.  Elsy came and held my hand while I sang and Tom slept through half of it.

We have been able to have some fun cousin time too.  Tommy and Asher are only two weeks apart but they are so different in size.

These two fishy eating fools are hilarious.  They are always chasing each other and screaming in delight... sometimes not, but mostly delight. :)

My dad took us on a Ram Charger ride and told Elsy we would find some snakes and frogs.  Needless to say she wasn't happy when we didn't catch any.

We have had a really great week.  Besides coming home this weekend we were able to make some fun memories at our own house too.  Elsy and Tommy took their first bath together.  Now that Tom can sit up he is loving bath time so much more.

Elsy is showing a lot more attention to her brother.  She said "I wanna hold Baby Tommy"  In this picture he looks massive.  In real life he is smaller, but Tom really is getting closer to her size.

This week wasn't really that eventful at home.  But I have been trying to focus on the little things that make life good.  And morning cuddles are one of those things. 

In our ward I am an Activity Day leader (8-11 year old girls).  This week we made babysitting kits and babysitting bags.  I spent all day cutting out 22 bags out of fabric and ironing and pinning the hems.  Then I cut the straps and melted all their edges because we found out the straps we used unraveled.  They turned out so adorable!  And Elsy got to keep the sample one I made as an example.  She was pretty pleased and carried her pacifiers around in it.

Lastly, one of the highlights of my week was taking this girl out on a 'date'.  Tommy went to bed early and so Logan watched him while we went out.  We went to World Market and Elsy didn't have to sit in the cart.  She had so much fun touching everything and we got to sit in a big furry seat and take pictures.  I love this little girl so much.  She makes things so much more fun.

A Week of Firsts

This week was a week full of firsts.

For example, Tommy sat in the grocery cart for the first time without being in his car seat.  So many people commented to me about my cute kids.  I have to agree, they really are adorable.

Tommy also got to swing in the swing at the park for the first time.  He got to play in the sandpit for the first time too and eat all the dirt he wanted.

Logan and I watched Star Wars Episodes 4, 5 & 6 this week.  We had a three night marathon.  I had never seen them all the way through so that was a first for me.

Tommy also learned how to sit up on his own this week!  (Although we do have to strategically place pillows around him still.)

Yesterday Tommy learned how to clap!  Except I don't have a picture of that but I do have this totally awesome picture of him in the Lego bucket.

Another first this week was seeing a rat walk through our back yard.  Logan said it was exactly the size of Elsy's Beanie Baby rat.  He may or may not have scared my pants off with said Beanie Baby today.  What can I say, I am a little on edge.

Logan took us to a new park for the first time on Mercer Island.  Logan, Elsy, and I had a fun time throwing rocks into Lake Washington.  There was also a super awesome playground area with a zip line.  Sadly Elsy fell off the top of the zip line ramp onto her face.  She was so sad with a mouth full of wood chips and blood, welt on her cheek, scratches on her forehead, and scuffs on her nose.  She landed right on her face and neck but we are just grateful it wasn't worse.

 

Another first this week is this here post.  You see, my new goal is to do a weekly post on Sunday with some pictures and thoughts about the week, kind of like a journal entry.  I have loved having a journal and have really tried to keep it up but lately I have really been struggling to find the time.  So I thought this would be faster and more simple... and also be fun because I can add pictures. 

Recently Logan and I have made a goal to go on a date every Friday.  My parents always went out every weekend and we thought that was something we needed to make the effort to do.  It can be really challenging to just hold a normal conversation when you have little kids around asking for your attention all the time.  So we decided to work babysitting $$ into our budget and go once a week.  Well this Friday we went to a Mongolian grill (one we were trying for the first time).  My fortune cookie read "Good thoughts make life better."  Now I know that fortune cookies really have nothing to do with your fortune at all, but this little message was just perfect for me.  You see, lately I have been really struggling with the mundane-ness of being a mom.  And a few days ago while reading in 2 Nephi 4 I realized that a good key to helping me out would be to change my attitude and focus more on the things that I am grateful for.  I dusted off my old gratitude journal that I have been doing on and off for years and decided to start an "on" cycle again.  Already I can tell a huge difference in my day and how satisfied I feel with my life again.

One last thought I wanted to share was about an article I read in the Ensign this week.  The article is called Blessing Our Children by Improving Our Marriage.  My Grandma Merkley had suggested we read it and I am so glad I did.  In the article, Spencer W. Kimball is quoted saying:  "Marriage... has to do not only with immediate happiness, but also with eternal joys.  It affects not only the two people involved, but also their families and particularly their children and their children's children down through many generations."  Then the author says "I often explain to people that they aren't just creating their own marriages but in essence their children's and grandchildren marriages as well."  Some people might read that and think "uh oh" but  I was pleasantly surprised to find the feeling I was feeling was a feeling of excitement.  You see, I absolutely love my marriage.  I know we are far from perfect and we have our ups and downs... I mean we are human after all!  But I realized that if my children and my grandchildren had marriages that were like mine, I would not worry.  I was excited for them to have a relationship like the one Logan and I have.  I am so grateful for a husband who talks with me about anything and everything.  We laugh a lot still and we just get along.  He helps with the chores and takes such good care of the kids.  Thanks Mom and Dad for setting a good example for us kids. :)

One more thing for the records:  Washington state is burning to the ground in a hundred wildfires in the East and in the West we are being blown away with wind storms causing power outages everywhere.  I am glad our power was only out for like a half hour.

Tommy and the 6 Month Mark

My baby is six months old.  Whaaaa?? Time seriously seems to be going faster.

Little Tommy has learned to roll all around the floor.  He will NOT hold still.  He jumps his legs on the floor, in the bath, while I'm nursing him, trying to get him to sleep, and just about always!  But at the same time he is the most content little guy I've ever met.

The kid is so laughy.  I love it.  He grunts and growls as his form of communication, but they are happy sounds not sad.  

6 month check up!  19 lbs 11 oz and 28 inches long.

Love this kiddo to bits!