Monday, February 28, 2011

Cute Pics





































potty training already?!

Jolene is really into using the potty right now, and is having pretty good success. she goes every time she's on the potty and she's telling us when she's gotta go(or you can see it when her face turns red and she starts to grunt!)
This weekend, Jolene kept telling me she had to potty. I would run her back to the chair and nothing. After awhile, I'm irritated and still in the middle of flipping pancakes for breakfast. Jo tells me AGAIN that she's got to go. I take her, but this time I left her there for just a moment so I could flip the batch of pancakes. The next thing I know she's standing next to me, naked, with poop on her feet. UGH. So I pick her up and run her to the bathroom where she's gone potty, half in the seat and half on the floor. From what I can deduct from the incident, Jo pooped and stood up before she was done. The "half" on the floor had fallen from her behind and she then proceeded to step in it and walk to the kitchen. Needless to say, the "YUCK" "Ew, gross" and "Don't move, Jolene!" got Luke out of bed. He gave Jo a quick bath and I steam cleaned the carpets. What a morning. At least the pancakes with fresh mangos were good.

Emmett's first time skiing

Here is the visual diary of Emmett's first ski adventure. Jolene had a good time too. She found a friend that had brought toys to the lodge...They played and danced the day away. It was great fun for everyone.


Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Grandparent's Visit

Grandma and Grandpa(or Memah and Pepah as Joey says) came for a visit over the holiday weekend. We always have a great "opening night" with lots of wine and cards. Deb and I always overdo it on opening night and pay for it the next day(the Darn Fur Trapper!). The weather took a turn for the worst and the snow began to fall. Even still, we took Emmett for his first ski lesson at Sleeping Giant. The snow fell like crazy and Emmett was the only one outside. Jolene, Deb, Mark, Luke and I sat in the lodge looking out the window and taking pics and videos. He absolutely loved skiing and can't wait to go back for lesson #2. His instructor's name was Lee and was a high school boy that is on the ski team. Emmett was already talking about how HE was going to be just like Lee and race on skis. Great. Better start saving now...for equiptment and the doctor bills. We packed up the car and headed for home. We then settled in for a nice dinner and relaxed the rest of the weekend away.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Bountiful Basket

I just love the Bountiful Basket program! Every two weeks I get to pick up an enormous basket of fruit and veggies. You never know what you're gonna get, but this week I didn't even know what one of them was. It turns out it was a sun choke or Jerusalem artichoke. I still haven't used it yet, but plan to figure something out. I also split 8lbs! of strawberries with Mom. I hulled and froze them all since Mom left for her trip to Arizona the morning I picked them up. They were really good strawberries and a shame to just freeze most of them. There were also some really tiny and cute comice pears. They are two-bite size and really good. What a great way to keep us eating our fruits and veggies thru out the winter.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!!

For Valentine's Day, Luke and I got to have a night out for a fundraiser called the Crab Crack, put on by Northwest Wyoming Family Planning. Mom came over and watched the kids for the night and we got to go eat crab to our hearts content, not to mention a few cocktails. I got to paint a set of wine glasses for the silent auction. They pulled in a whopping $30. Good exposure for my hobby. Luke wound up winning an "antique" tennis racket. He didn't know til a few days later when the called and asked if he was going to pick it up and pay for it. Then, of course, there was the drama that I created by leaving mom's camera on the table, but not realizing this until about 3 days later! They finally found it and now there are pictures to prove our fun night existed!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Memories of Dad

Today is the 2nd year of Dad's passing. I had been holding up just fine until I got online. Chrissy had posted the video of her spreading Dad's ashes at the summit of Kilimanjaro and that's when the dam broke. The tears came flowing and the kids came running. They wanted to see what was going on. I can't tell you how many times I watched the amazing tear evoking video, but Emmett just wanted to see Aunt Chrissy! He didn't understand the content of the video. I finally just let him play his Elmo game and Jolene and I went upstairs so I could call Grammy. I needed to cry with someone who didn't speak gibberish. Mom's eyes were red enough on their own. I'm sure she didn't need me to add to the situation. Let me explain. Yesterday, Mom had gone thru a box that was left behind by the old homeowners. Something in the box caused her to have an allergic reaction. Her eyes we swollen shut and itchy blotches on her hands. She came over this morning to take Emmett to school and keep Jolene at her house so I could attend a water meeting for the association. She came into the house with really red, irritated eyes and explained. Maybe it was Dad's way of keeping mom busy so no one knew she was crying. Good work, Dad, good work. You always were a thinker.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Super bowl pics

We did make it over to the Steven's home for the Superbowl. It was snowy and cold but so much fun! Good food and a fun game to watch. The kids had a blast playing on the big red mustang(in the one photo, the kids on the back are in the process of falling off!) and Joel got to have some fun too! Luke made a comment about Jolene's picture on the hood of the car.."that better be the last time I see her on the hood of some guys car!"

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Super Bowl





















We woke up this morning to new snow on the ground! and daddy making french toast! What a treat. It has continued to snow throughout the day and have maybe a few inches on the ground. After a good breakfast, we bundled the kids up and threw them out in the snow. Jolene just loved walking around in the snow, creating new footprints. Emmett's favorite snow game was having me make him snowballs for him to then throw at me. We had a good time in the snow til we all started to get cold...even the photographer! Jolene screamed harder than anyone when we had to go inside. I think she'd still be out there shoveling snow with the sand shovel if we'd let her. She was fine after dad handed out apres-snow cookies and milk!


Later, after good naps are had, we are possibly heading to our friends' home for football and food. I guess it's up to Mother Nature if we go or not....





Thursday, February 3, 2011

Pajama Day

Today was PJ day at preschool. I was planning on running errands and playing at Grammy's until Emmett was done for the day, BUT it turns out Amber's little boy Dylan was sick and she couldn't stay to help out. I called mom and she kept Jolene for the morning so I could parent help. It is really nice that Dawn lives really close to mom and she just dropped off Jolene so I could stay! It just so happens that I had my camera with me in the car, so I thought I would document the special occasion! The kids had such a great time. Almost all of them brought their PillowPets with them, which worked out great since the day was all about the letter P. We had pancakes as a snack and played with purple Playdoh all while in their pajamas! Lucky me to have gotten to witness all the fun!