Gotcha Day

On Saturday also we went out to lunch to celebrate Gotcha Day for Luke. Luke wanted to eat at Long John Silvers, (originally I posted this as Gangplank's- a place we used to eat at in Idaho Falls, Luke found the mistake so I could correct it), so he could have Shrimp. He loves shrimp. We had a fun day celebrating our family.

Unbelievable

On Saturday after the soccer game I left to go grocery shopping and Ryan stayed home to put Livvy down for a nap. When I got home I found the Girl Scout Cookies I had ordered weeks before. I asked Ryan what he paid for them with. Ryan said, I didn't pay for them Luke did. Ryan had been upstairs putting Livvy down and the girl we ordered them from showed up with the cookies. She told Luke they cost $10.50. He went to his allowance jar and pulled out the money and paid for them. I was so surprised. What 7 year old pays for the cookies, doesn't open them and eat them, but saves them for the family? What a cute boy.

Saturday was the first game of the year. Luke is playing goal, and the other team is preparing for a corner kick. Luke did a great job. Their team had no subs, so first quarter he played his favorite position- defense, next he was goalie. He did great both times and had some excellent saves. After half, he played forward. Now Luke LOVES defense, and HATES playing offense, but he kept after the ball, went up for passes and did a great job. Final quarter he was so happy because he was back in defense again. We were all shocked to see that when his team had a corner kick, he sneaked up in an offensive position, took a shot and scored a goal. The surprising part was that he left the backfield to do it. It was great! I think he had a lot of fun playing.

Bye, Bye Binky

On Wednesday, Olivia and I went to the mall to check out some sales. When we got there we had the 2 remaining pacifiers with us. When we left we had the last known pacifier in our possession. After that we picked up Luke at school and went to the doctors office to get bike helmets (a cool program our office does, measure the kid's heads and fit them for a helmet, and sell us one for a reduced price). Anyway, Livvy didn't get a nap because we were busy and on the move all day. So that night, I was holding her and she fell asleep holding Duck, but she didn't even ask for her binky. She slept through the night. Next day, she naps with Duck, again never asks for the binky. It's now Saturday, Luke, Ryan and I are very careful not to say the "B" word (binky). Every once in a while I'll catch Livvy sucking on her finger and I'll hurry and pull it out, but for the most she hasn't even seemed to mind. Our only fear is that somewhere within our house, we know there is a binky well hidden from our adult minds. We are dreading the day that Livvy happens across it and then we have to start the whole thing again.

Ladies, ladies

Livvy goes to my friend Stephanie's house while I work at Luke's school on Thursday mornings. When I came to pick her up today, they were outside playing. Stephanie says, "I just have to apologize first before you see Olivia's face." Then Olivia turns around and I ask, "Did she fall down?" Stephanie answers,"I wouldn't feel near as bad if that's what would've happened."
Olivia and Maddie are both entering the 2 year old stages where when one has something, the other has to go and get it. Then if the other goes after something else, then that is the most needed possession on the face of the planet. Needless to say Livvy and Maddie had been competing over the same toys, and space all morning. I guess they were hiding in the curtains, and Maddie needed the space that Livvy had. Next thing Stephanie knows is that Livvy is crying and she pulls her out of the curtains and then Poof! Livvy's face turns red and has scratches all over it. She felt awful. Ladies! Ladies! is what Stephanie always says. They certainly forgot to act like it there. :) Poor Stephanie. Livvy will heal, will she? The girls were tormenting her non-stop.
Luke fell down cement steps at the same age and had similar, yet much worse abrasions that this. Must be the age to have a scratched up face.

Prayer

This morning Luke was saying the blessing on our breakfast. At the age of 7 prayers are short, sweet and simple, and of course fast. There are times when my boy can touch my heart so powerfully with just the smallest things. Luke came home from school yesterday and informed me that they were getting a new boy in there class the following day. He was excited, but he was worried because they were starting something that the class had been practicing, and he knew the new boy wouldn't have been able to practice. We talked about it and how he could be a good friend. This morning my sweet boy while saying the blessing on the food blessed that the new boy would have a good day, and would do well in their class. I was so touched that he remembered and cared enough to think about the new kid in his prayer. Today after school he said that the new boy had had a good day and had fun. What a good example Luke is to me to remind me to think about and pray for others. Thanks Luke, I love you.

Livvy loves horses

Notice the death grip on the shirt.

Our little girl Loves horses. The only problem is that she is scared to death of the ones we have. She dances around singing "horsey, horsey o--n way" (horsey, horsey on your way). But when we try to put her on the rocking horse, or show her the stick horse she freaks out. The stick horse she is now doing better with, but the rocking horse is still a problem. Livvy will now walk up to the horse and pet it, but we are still acclimating her to sitting on it. I'm trying to learn how to down load the movie of her dancing and singing her song. She and Luke are so cute in it.

Meet "Duck"

This is "Duck" the penguin. She is Livvy's new friend. On the way out of the zoo I decided that Livvy needed a stuffed animal as Luke had bought a torpedo shark football and we hadn't gotten Livvy anything. Livvy loved the penguins the most on our trips to the zoo and Shedd Aquarium, but she couldn't say penguin so she said duck. They kind of look the same (if your one) and they're both birds. We kind of guided Livvy toward what animal she wanted, and she loves her penguin. She snuggled it all the way home, and slept with it. When she see "Duck" she has to run and snuggle it. We love "Duck."

Waterfall

Luke is standing near a waterfall, the wave would come crashing over, fall on a glass plate above him, and then run back into the tank. Luke loved this, and it terrified Livvy. She plastered herself to my face and wouldn't let go until we were far away from it. She could even laugh at it a little, but still would never let go until we left.

Dolphin and Bear show at the Zoo

From top to bottom: Molly, Weston, Ryan, Olivia, Luke, Katie and William.
Playful bears

Even the polar bears put on a show.

We had a group picture taken while we were waiting for the Dolphin show. (This is still at the Brookfield Zoo). We sure had fun. The dolphin show was shorter than the one at Shedd, but it was much more fun. We had a great time watching the show, and Luke even got a little wet. After the show, Luke said that he'd like to work with dolphins when he grows up. I want to too. On our way to visit the Alligator at the Swamp, we passed the Alaskan brown bears and the Polar bears. The adults were so excited, because it is the most interaction we had even seen with bears ever at the zoo. They were playing and swimming and fighting in their pools. It was a great show. Livvy kept saying, "Beeaaah." Too fun.
Luke had to measure up against a Gorilla. He still has a little growing to do.

Brookfield Zoo

We had a fun filled day at the zoo. The kids had such a fun time running and exploring and seeing all the animals and such. This zoo had the greatest monkey and gorilla house we had ever seen. You were up in the trees with the monkey, right at eye level without any glass or nets to obstruct your view. Unfortunately we only took videos in the monkey house. The swamp was great, the alligator was huge, and the mist was really neat. You felt like you were in a swamp, it even stunk like it. The otter display was so fun, the otters swam right up against the window. The fish and shark display was great, the kids loved watching them with no one else shoving them out of the way. (There were not too many people at the zoo that day, and we had the whole place pretty much to ourselves). It was a great zoo. They even had dolphins, which I'll post that later. Livvy loved the penguin display again. They are her favorites.

There was a playground where the kids were able to run and play and burn energy. Livvy loved sliding down the "whheeee." She even did the big fast slides by herself. She did have trouble sharing with the kids she didn't know there. She kept telling them "NO!' when she saw them climbing up to play. Luke found a goose and tried his best to get bit. He had fun and of course the highlight of the playground was when the goose had a bowel movement.

Temple Day

Tuesday morning Ryan and I went to the Temple. Olivia was upset, knowing we were leaving. She cried and cried until we left and then she was fine. We encountered traffic (hello Chicago), but made it to the 11:00 session. It was so nice to be in the house of the Lord and to feel His spirit so strong.
After the session, Ryan and I went to Hackney's for lunch. It's a restaurant we learned about on Food Network. It was really good. We had a good time. We made it back about 3:00 PM and the kids had been good while we were gone.
Luke was in heaven that day as he was able to play the Wii the whole time while we were gone. He was ready to turn it off, he was a Wii mush head.
That night we were able to kick Molly and Raymond out for a date while we watched the kids. We had a good time with the kids.

Having fun in Chicago with the Miller's

Here we are at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
The komodo dragon thinks Luke is looking like lunch.

Olivia and Weston sure had fun looking at various exhibits.

We had the chance to go to Chicago and visit our friends Raymond, Molly, and Weston and William. Molly and the kids accompanied us to the Shedd Aquarium where we had a fun filled day watching whales, dolphins, komodo dragons, tons of fish and other creatures. Olivia loved the snakes (that would be snakes, lizards and other slimy creatures), penguins, and the fish. She was nervous about all the glass and wasn't too sure about it's stability. Luke liked the Caribbean Reef, Beluga Whales, the dolphins, the komodo dragon, and the Stingrays. Luke came away from the gift shop with his new friend "Gulp" the sting ray.
That night we went to Portillo's for Chicago style hot dogs. Livvy was so exhausted she fell asleep on the way and slept all the way through dinner. She woke up when we returned home and then ate her hot dog cold.

Livvy and Little Maddy

Can you get any cuter than these two little girls. This is little Maddy who we watch on Friday mornings. Livvy gets to go to her house on Thursday mornings while I go and work at Luke's school. Maddy's mom works at the school Friday morning. Stephanie (Maddy's mom) is such a trooper, Livvy cried for her 3 weeks straight in a row, and Stephanie was so patient with it. Now when we pull into their driveway Livvy yells out "Yea! Yea, yea yea!" She now loves to go and play at their house. Hooray for good friends.

Lunch ("bunch")

We watch Madi in the afternoons after her Kindergarten ends. Her parents pack her a lunch each day in her lunch box. The routine everyday is that Madi goes to hang up her backpack. Then Livvy gets Madi's lunch box and carries it to the table. Then it's a fight for Madi to keep her lunch. So today I packed Livvy a lunch in Luke's lunch box. She had so much fun with her lunch today.

Binky BLues

What in the world? There's a hole in this Binky!
Hmm, well maybe if I try this.
Yep, if I plug the hole, it works just fine!
Mom threatened to do it, she said when my eye teeth came in the Binky would go bye-bye. Good thing I'm a problem solver cause I can show her.

Livvy loves her binky. Well any binky for that matter. I noticed during chuch on Sunday that her binky had little bite marks in it, but she didn't seem to mind. I noticed her last eye tooth broke through yesterday, she had been mean and cranky all day long. I decided why not get it over with for once and for all, when she's cranky anyway, what's a little more, right? After I cut the end off the bink, Livvy got mad, then intrigued with the hole. I believe it took her all of 2 minutes to figure out how to plug the hole. It took Mom and Dad to hold her down to go to sleep sucking on her binky finger. When we transferred her to the crib she started to try to suck again, she didn't have the binky but the finger worked alone. That's the last thing I need is for her to start sucking on her finger. She did that before when I took the binky away at 13 months. I quickly gave the binky back as I can take a binky away, but her fingers do have to stay with her. Back to the drawing board for me.

March Madness

My friends said I could delete pictures without deleting the entry. Well I couldn't figure it out and deleted the whole thing, I think. That's why I'm doing it again.

March 22 is our Stake Temple Day, when members of our church try to make it to our Temple to serve. Our Temple is in Chicago which is 3 to 31/2 hours or more away depending on traffic and construction. We organized a fun trip over with many of our friends who could make it. We planned on taking two 15 passenger vans and 26 people were coming, we "Priceline"d hotel rooms and were able to get them for $40 a night. We were so excited and looking forward to the trip. Today we were hit with a major severe winter storm. The roads are AWFUL! We decided it would be in our best interest not to go for safety reasons. We so did not want to be responsible for anyone to be hurt.I am sad. I wanted to go to the Temple. I love the Spirit of the Lord that can be felt so strong, I love being able to focus on my Savior Jesus Christ especially at Easter time. I also wanted to go to be with friends and explore more of Chicago. I'm also sad to have lost the money for the hotel rooms we bought. But knowing that my family and my friends are safe is priceless, and we can find more ways here to focus on our Savior and have and enjoyable Easter.It sure is a beautiful night. We have got a lot of snow. This morning there was no snow, tonight there is close to a foot. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

A good laugh

Tonight I kept looking at Luke's pajamas he had selected and kept wondering where his shorts came from. I couldn't remember them at all. THey were SO tight on him I thought maybe they were old. I finally called him over and looked at the tag. I started laughing my head off. They were a pair of Olivia's knit pants size 18 months. We all started laughing so hard. I wondered where those pants had gone.

me and my friends

Well here is something interesting. A picture of me with friends. That almost never happens so I had to ducument it here on the blog. On the upper photo it is Valarie Michalek, Lisa Brandt, Sarah Cook (whose shower we're at), me, and Sonja Staples. The lower photo is of Lindsey Parker, Juli Goff, and of course myself. Sonya and I put the shower together for Sarah, who didn't want it but we made her anyway. She has 3 girls, and is now expecting her 1st boy. Valerie, and Lisa helped us to make it happen. We had fun, and Sarah didn't mind it too much either.

Olivia's diaper

Where oh where is Livvy's diaper? Where has she put it now? This funny little girl has decided that she doesn't need to wear a diaper. She has mastered the art form of undoing her diaper through her clothes. Especially when she's wearing pajamas. Then the next morning she wakes up completely soggy. It may be time to pull out the duct tape. We are attempting to potty train her as soon as she shows signs. She's getting close. The other day before putting her in the tub I told her not to go poopy in the tub. She said she wasn't ready to get into the tub. I left to go get her conditioner and she had pooped on the floor. Yeah, she's understanding. I'd take the floor anyday over the tub. (Of course meaning the bathroom floor). She also likes sitting on her potty chair. She's never been productive with it, but enjoying it is a plus.

School Days, Play Days

So it begins. Everyday for school I go into Luke's room to WAKE him up for school at 7:45 AM. We then fight about it being time to wake up. It's so early, I don't want to wake up, etc.. Well just recently Luke's new trend is - on days off from school somehow he is able to wake up happy and of course all on his own at 7:00 AM or earlier if he's lucky. I so wasn't ready for this to start yet. The wonderful thing is that this morning when he woke up early, he went first to do his chores. He cleaned his bathroom all on his own without even being told today. What a good boy!

too late

Yeah, we hoped we wouldn't pass the Hand Foot and Mouth along. We feel awful! Christina broke out with a fever yesterday. Poor little girl. Sorry Christina. :(

Winter still

Today again we are having a winter weather advisory. March is almost over, yet winter marches on.
Olivia is sick this week. She woke up Easter Morning burning up. Then later in the day I realized what was happening. Livvy has Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Poor baby! You know she's sick when she tries to eat chocolate, and then starts crying in pain and has to spit it out. I thought for a while that this may break her of her Binky, but no, she'll just keep sucking away on it.
We're quarantined now for a while. We hope we don't spread it on to anyone else.

me and my brother

I found a picture of me and Brian from when I was a baby and had Luke and Livvy's pictures done similarly. I have to laugh, because I am stonefaced in the older picture and Luke is stonefaced in the new one.

Lukas 7 years, Livvy 18 mo

St. Patrick's Day

Yesterday the little Leprechauns came a visiting again. Every year on St. Patty's day we wake up to little Leprechaun footprints all over the house. Those cute little guys drop gold coins wherever they went too. Some of them have chocolate in them, and some are plastic. (Livvy was very confused that some of them tasted good, and some she couldn't open). Our Leprechaun's will even kiss you and leave a green shamrock or lip prints on you. And most intriguing of all, they use our potty. And the water turns green! Luke had so much fun running around looking to see what the Leprechauns left this year. Livvy wasn't sleeping so well, so she didn't get a kiss. Luke was pretty upset because the little Leprechaun, (we know cause his footprints are the smaller set) went up to the dog kennel. Luke was worried that Cali ate the little guy. Mom and Dad think he was probably too fast to get eaten by the dog.
We did eat some green milk for breakfast, and we ate green Mac and cheese for dinner. Well those of us who can stomach the orange stuff. It was a fun day. Hooray for the Leprechauns!

Date with Luke

On Friday March 14th, Luke and I (mom) were able to go on a date. I was so excited, I had even tucked a note in his school snack letting him know how excited I was. Ryan made it home early, and Luke and I left. We went to the Parlour for dinner. Luke wanted sausage pizza and a root beer float. It was so much fun. We needed some time out, and boy did Luke open up. Gone were the one word responses I've become accustomed to, Luke opened up so much about school and his life in general. My heart just kept growing with love for him. He even held my hand again. What a great boy. Luke loved having control of the keyless remote for the car.
He wanted to go to Spiderwick Chronicles. Not too long into the movie, as it was intense, I asked Luke if he would like to sit on my lap. He responded that he thought he would be okay. I told him I wasn't sure if I would though. He did end up on my lap, and both of us jumped a few times. I might have even screamed.
Well when the movies let out we went hurrying to the car as it was dark and I am night blind. I normally don't drive at night at all, but decided to for the time with my son. Imagine my surprise as I round the corner to exit the theatre, and there sits Ryan with Livvy in his lap. He came to the theatre to help guide me home in the dark.
What a great night. I was able to spend good time one on one with Luke, and my wonderful husband came to make sure we made it home safe. What a great family. I am truly blessed.

Livvy's FIrst Prayer

Olivia said her first prayer with help on Saturday March 8th. She was so adorable. Unfortunately Ryan was at Stake (church) meetings that night so he didn't get to hear it, but Luke and I were so excited. Livvy was repeating key words that I said. Then because Luke and Livvy had been dancing before prayers, I threw in there, "Thanks that we could dance." Livvy said "Thanks...," and then she started dancing in her prayer. It was so cute. Luke still repeats that for her all the time. The kids are sure growing up fast.