Dumpster Diving

I'm not the type that will see something set out by the garbage and decide to load it up and take it home. But I couldn't pass up the PIANO I saw out by the trash! So, with the help of a friend who is brave enough to talk to strangers (I hate doing it) we made arrangements to get the piano for FREE. A free piano! And it's not too bad. There's a few keys that don't work but they are mostly where you rarely play anyway. The mirror along the top is also really tacky but still not horrible.

Ben was wonderful for getting it for me. He doesn't even really want it but he put all the work into moving the piano just because he loves me. He is the best husband. We're planning to get it tuned but that will have to wait until he save up some money for that. If you know of anyone who tunes pianos for relatively cheap let me know! Heidi's goal for this year is to learn to play the piano. We even had piano music to sing along with during our Family Home Evening last night. It was great.

A new year, new goals!

Christmas was odd this year. Fun but just lacking that whole Christmas feel since I spent the two weeks prior working on a wedding and then missed a flight home. I got home in time to unpack, do the laundry and run out late at night for stocking stuffers. Thank goodness Rite Aid was still open. The cutest part of Christmas for me was watching Daisy sit there only interested in her cup full of gummi bears. She looks so old and grown up!

Ever since then I have felt like I was in a funk...not quite my normal self. But then today something happened to kick me back into action. My friend asked me to speak in Young Women about setting goals. This got me thinking about goals for the year 2010. I LOVE to set goals and LOVE having the new year to pick some new things to work toward. I also realized today that I have exactly 3 months until Blake is born. Remember what goal I set last time I had 3 months? That's right! To run 100 miles before the baby was born. I've been so excited to have this goal again. Tomorrow morning I will get up and get started on my next 100 miles. Tomorrow night is also our Family Home Evening where we review our last year's goals and set new ones for the coming year. I'm excited to say that we accomplished most of our goals this year. In fact they became such a habit in our everyday lives that I forgot they were even our goals to begin with. So tomorrow night we will set new goals and have them posted around our house to remind us. I really encourage you all to set goals. Write them down and put them somewhere that you will see them each day. It really does help you feel better about yourself as you work towards these goals and accomplish them. Happy New Year!

Christmas Parade!

Our ward did a float in the Christmas parade and for some reason that fell under ward activities. Our float was Bringing the Joy of Christmas into your Home. Pretty much we just wanted to emphasize that we were Christians and read from the Bible.

We had to line up two hours before the parade even started. It was not fun with the girls stuck in the truck (it was FREEZING outside). As you can tell from Ben's expression and Heidi, who is crying during the picture, that is was a long two hours.
Our float was just a living room scene. We used our Christmas tree and it will be thrown away after Christmas. It broke and is leaning against our wall for Christmas this year.
We used this parade as a chance to pass out pass-along cards. We gave out about 700 and ran out half-way through.

Our float actually placed! We took third place with religious emphasis. We even received a trophy. We all sort of laughed at it because it has a big cross on the top of it. For those who don't know we are one of the few Christian faiths that does not use the cross as a symbol of our worship so it is a little funny.

We lit up the float by using two extension cords, a surge protector and a car adapter. We made it through the entire parade with lights but as soon as we turned the corner to end the parade the adapter blew.
The girls insisted on walking and handing out the cards. They did alright but both ended up back in the truck and when it was over we let them ride on the trailer.
My good-looking husband saving the day and driving the truck for me (not to mention all the other stuff he did during the day to help me get this float done).
I just have to say that I am so glad to be done with my calling for the year. I love my calling but it is a stressful week whenever I have something going on. Now we are getting everything packed for tomorrow's plane trip to CA. Is it really supposed to snow in Oroville tomorrow? That would stink. The last thing I want to do is fly home to somewhere even colder than it was last night.

Just a few pictures

I know I said I was going to be super busy but today I just happened to have a little time for pictures with Kaylee and Daisy. Kaylee just looked so cute that I wanted to capture it with my camera. And, I'm happy to say that she cooperated and smiled for the camera.

Even more exciting was that Daisy, who I wasn't even going to take a picture because of her crazy hair, actually wanted her picture taken. She even came out, stood still and smiled all on her own. I know that my nieces and and nephew have had that skill down since birth (I think it is a part of their DNA to smile when a camera is around) but for my kids this is a big deal.

I think Daisy looks like Albert Einstein with her hair. Everyday I do her hair and just about everyday she pulls her pigtails out. Normally I redo them but today I didn't care since we were at home. She looks like she has no hair in the front and then an untamable mess in the back.

Here Comes December

This month is just going to be busy. This week alone I have something going on each, ending in the ward activity/parade float. Then we take a break on sunday so we can leaving the next day to fly to california for another two weeks of busy wedding preparations. Then we fly home just in time for me to go to the store and buy food to cook for a Christmas dinner with Ben. After Christmas we have two weeks to get in all the Christmas activities we weren't able to do while I was gone like the zoo lights and the gaylord opry hotel. Super busy month but it should also be a ton of fun.

Our Thanksgiving was fun. I think the highlight of it all was that, thanks to Heidi's friend Isaac, she can now ride her bike all by herself. She has had the ability to do it for a while but was just too chicken. But, after seeing Isaac ride around 'the block' she decided to do it herself and loved it! Well, that's all for now. If you don't see me in a while it will be because we have so much going on. Merry Christmas!

Yard Sale Purchases

Occassionally we will drive around on a saturday to check out the yard sales. Heidi and Kaylee really like going because they usually get some little toy. This week Heidi bought a package of crazy straws and Kaylee found this bouncy ball.

But the real winner was this little wagon that Daisy was so cute pushing around we couldn't resist. The girls spent the rest of the morning pushing each other outside in the wagon. I love both their faces in this picture.
They had a blast with it. I was so glad that we got it.
Daisy always sticks her head down to push. It reminds me of her trying to streamline while swimming. She just sticks her head down and then goes for it.

Another Kaylee/Heidi Moment

So here is the story. Tonight Ben had to stay at school late in the Optical so I knew not to count on him until after 7. At the dinner table, where Kaylee wasn't eating her noodles she asked to go to the bathroom. I excuse her, finsh my dinner and then hear Kaylee called to be wiped. When I walk in she says "I got some on the floor." I look to see poop in the toilet, on the toilet and on the floor. How does that even happen? But, I wipe her up and tell her to get in the tub. Daisy goes with her and I think the only thing worse than poop on the floor is poop in the tub. And of course, after cleaning the whole messy house and finally sitting down to read to Heidi I hear Kaylee call out "Daisy's pooping in the tub." So I go and start the whole process of cleaning them up, getting as much poop as possible into the toilet (hard to do since the poop was NOT hard at all), get the girls bathed again, get them out.

Once again I start to read to Heidi and tell Kaylee to go get dressed. She whines but heads back. Ten minutes later she comes out completely naked to tell me that she was coloring and got blue all over. Now she is naked with marker all over her freshly bathed body. This was too much!! I tell her to go to the bathroom and clean her hands. She whines because she wants to use the boy's bathroom instead of the girl's but the boy bathroom is dark. So I yell "GO WASH YOUR HANDS!!" Kaylee runs off crying and Heidi says to me "Um...You're not being like Jesus because you're not being nice." What do you do then but just start laughing at how idiotic all your kids are? But luckily Kaylee is now dressed, Heidi is sitting here reading every word I write out loud and Ben just pulled up. My night is bound to get better.

running away

she was trying to run away from the camera and thought it was funny that I had to run after her. she is wearing kaylee's ballerina skirt and she was so proud of it. all my girls like to dress up pretty. i think they are somewhat disappointed with their mom who wears a plain t-shirt and jeans everyday. heidi is always trying to get me to wear a dress.

in the leaves

These are our neighbor's leaves and you can see there are a ton. That is one of the many things I love about being out here. There is a little story with this video. I wanted to get them jumping in the leaves but Heidi was trying to play a game with Kaylee. It's hard to hear teh dialogue so I will explain. Heidi found a red leaf. The leaf was supposed to help you not do bad things. OBVIOUSLY Kaylee was the one that needed it. However, I thought Heidi's list of "bad things" was funny. There were two. One was not running in the halls (a rule from school) and the other was not eating like a pig. Ben gets pretty mad each night at dinner when Heidi has food all over her face, her place at the table, and on the floor below her. He is always on her about not eating like a pig. Maybe I should bring a red leaf to the dinner table with us to help Heidi out.

The cocoon swing

More pictures from the Botanical gardens. There was a cocoon swing thing that they enjoyed. Daisy was really excited but you can tell the other weren't thrilled to have her on slowing them down.

Finally she got some time by herself.
Until Kaylee wanted a ride.
I tried to get a picture of us but this was the best that Kaylee could get.
I still have more garden pictures coming.

mr bones part2

like i said, not as good as the first one but still funny. Kaylee is over the skeletons, Daisy loves them and Heidi is still crying behind the highchair.

The Decomposition Maze

We went to the Botanical Gardens for the first time today. It is free on Wednesdays after 12 and there is tons for the kids to do. We only got through the Big Backyard Section so we haven't even seen the rest of the place. I love this picture of Daisy.

I'm going to make a few posts about the botanical gardens so this first one is all at the decomposition maze. It was a cute/easy maze made out bushes. Kaylee, who was in one of her happy-yet-easy-to-cry moods, spent the whole time picking up pine needles.

She didn't really want to play with anything and she really didn't. We went with friends and Kaylee didn't do a thing with any of them even though she was so excited to hang out with Cadee on the way there. I don't know why she gets that way.
They had all sorts of fun things to do, even in this one small section. Heidi played on the spider web, crawled through the logs, did the maze, sat on the big bugs, etc.



Kaylee refused to be in the sibling picture and crawled onto another bug instead.
Daisy crawled through one of the logs while still holding on to her sandwich.
Then she tried to stand up. I love this look when she realized she couldn't stand up anymore.
Like I said, more pictures to come. I haven't been posting lately and that's because we haven't been doing anything. I had nothing to blog about. We are just a boring family that hangs out at home. Sometimes I feel that I should be doing more with my life but then sometimes I love the fact that I am not SO busy that I am not available. I am the type of person who can come when you ask, be home if you stop by, have time to chat on the phone (although I may not have the minutes) or always able to babysit because I just don't have a busy schedule. I like that. I once heard a conference talk and it said if you are too busy to serve others then you are just too busy. I have all the time in the world and I do try to be there when others need me. The only down side to my non-busy life is that there are very few pictures to take or things to post about.

PS-Since it was Halloween I have a Mr. Bones Part 2 video coming soon. Not as great as the first one but still a good laugh.

YEA!!!

All my charges were dismissed!! I DO NOT have a criminal record! YEA!!!

The Sub Sandwich Incident

Each month I am in charge of a Relief Society lunch group. Most times it is just potluck type stuff and, since I am in charge, I always bring a lot of food so that I know there will be enough. I never know how many are coming or what they are bringing so I make enough food so that even if I am the only one there it will be a delicious meal for me. This month I was in the mood for a sub sandwich with the works. So I spend about 45 mins putting together my sandwich, wrapping it up and putting it in the car. I went back into the house to get the potato salad, chips, lemonade and guacamole when Daisy walks into the house holding THIS:

She was holding the top of the sandwich. I couldn't figure out how she got to it but I grabbed the top and hoped that I could just put it back on the sandwich and all would be well. I was not expecting THIS:
There was my delicious sandwich loaded with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato and pickles all over the driveway. I was very sad. I still think it looks good even all over the ground. Luckily I still had my potato salad in tact to bring to the lunch group. Ben and I always joke about which kids are Hancocks or Taylors based on their eating. Since Daisy tried to take on an entire sub-sandwich by herself she is definitely a Hancock.

Our HAPPY Halloween

Notice anything missing?

Look one more time...Who is missing from the halloween line-up picture?
That's right! Kaylee is not in the line up. Why? Simply because she refused to eat anything for dinner except candy, threw a huge fit, got sent to bed, given two more chances, threw two more fits and finally end up in her pajamas and in bed for the night. This was all before her friends showed up to trick or treat. She does NOT do well with candy around. It makes her even crazier than normal behavior wise and she will not stop looking, gawking, sneaking, or whining over candy if it is around. It's funny because she was great this week and then we had the ward party, she had candy the next day and this was how it all ended. Three years old and grounded to her bed on Halloween night.

I know. What kind of mom actually makes her kid miss trick-or-treating?? The kind of mom that has NO CLUE what to do. During the primary program the kids sang a song that said "God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be" and I think of this line all the time. Having children truly is a learning process. Kaylee is a mystery that I still haven't figured out and I keep thinking that Heavenly Father uses her as a way to teach me and help me become better. I just haven't improved myself in the right way yet to be a good mom for her. She is always one step ahead of me and I never quite know what to do. Maybe next year she will make the line up.

Another activity done

The ward party is finally over! I always love when it is done and I don't have the worry that accompanies each activity. This year Kaylee really wanted to be Peter Pan. I made her outfit for less than $5. We already had tinkerbell for daisy and luckily heidi had a blue dress to use as wendy. I tried to talk ben into getting a top hat and pajama shirt for john but he wouldn't.

Even though the decoration were not the greatest they were still a step up from last year. I didn't even decorate last year. We had games first, then the trunk or treat, then dinner with the costume parade for entertainment. The parade ended up being more of a costume dance party because the kids would walk up and just start dancing instead of exiting of the stage.
We had caramel apples again. We also had pumpkin bowling, the haunted house, coloring and the cake walk.
Here is a picture of the cake walk prize. I had to package the prize so that parents could have them wait until after dinner to eat it and i didn't want cake all over the floor. I bought A TON of candy and put them in bags. I was pretty excited because this looks like a kids dream come true and each bag ended up having an entire bag of candy within. Not the little bag either but the big bags that you buy and put in a candy dish to share. It was fun providing that much candy to little kids. Daisy loved her bag of peanut butter M&Ms even though I have been eating them all.
Here are a pictures of the girls before it all started. That was the only time I had for them because once we started they were on their own. Ben had to man the haunted house and I was running around everywhere. We had such a big turn out that we had to pull out 5 more tables for people to sit at for dinner. Lucky for me you can give Daisy an apple and she will be busy for the next hour. She just walk around in the kitchen eating her apple totally content.

I had an hour between heidi's school ending and the party so we got ready at the church.

heidi's favorite part was her wendy slippers that I made with felt and her flip flops.
kaylee has been trying so hard to be a good, obedient girl and you can tell because she is smiling in all her pictures now. She has been very good this week.