If I had time I would invent......

A "poop chute" that would let me drop messy diapers in a trap door that was connected right to the garbage in the garage. I mean, who wants to walk out to the garage 2-3 times a day? (or 8 if you have a newborn!) :)

Emma's Preschool Program

What do you get when you are in a room with 25 preschool kids singing and dancing? Camera's clicking, prideful parents, and lots of laughter. Emma had her preschool program last week and it was so enjoyable. Her 3 year old class performed two songs: and a rockin' version of Eitsy, Bitsy Spider (with spider hats to top it off). Emma was singing, playing the air piano, and shaking her hips! It was great. Too bad our camcorder weighs 10 lbs, we might have gotten it all on tape! After the 4 year old class performed some songs and they combined the two groups for a friendship song. They were supposed to put their arms around one another, but you could tell that some of the kids were not going to do that! Miss Cindy then presented their preschool portfolio's to them that included pictures from all of the field trips and some art projects they had done throughout the year. The first page asked the question, "What is your favorite thing about preschool?" Emma's reply, "Playing with Chase!"

I don't know what we will do without preschool this summer. I know Emma loved it and I will admit it was nice to have her in a fun environment while I got some things done. Sometimes that 2 1/2 hours passed too quickly. I am so proud of everything that she brought home. It will be hard to throw some things away, but we will have to make room for next year's projects. We have made a list of fun summer things to do and I am sure the summer will go by really fast. At least I have one more year of preschool before the big change--Kindergarten!

I LOVE Ice Cream...

so I took this quiz (I also love quizzes). I was shocked to read the results. Vanilla would be almost my last choice out of any ice cream, but the description of vanilla actually fit me pretty well. Kindof fun!! Yummmmm......just talking about ice cream, makes me need some.




You're as popular and relaxing as vanilla ice cream. You go with the flow, and get along with all sorts of people. You appreciate peace and simplicity, so you sometimes find crowds and loud noises overwhelming. You are a chilled-out, calming influence on the people in your life, and your friends appreciate how supportive and flexible you are.

My Beautiful Brielle

Brielle has had a rough couple of weeks. She has had a runny nose for at least a month that was probably due to a cold plus getting a new tooth. She is just getting over croup and a double ear infection. She also is more mobile now, so she has had a lot of tumbles. This has added some extra clinginess to our day. But as I was looking through our memory card I found some totally cute pictures of her that I had to post to remind me how really happy and funny she is. (FYI- it is a cocoa pebble that looks like a mustache and as you can tell she had to feed herself the chocolate pudding!)

Mother's Day 2008

In reflecting on my LONG Mother's Day weekend, I realized I need to trust my "motherly instinct" more. This is how the weekend went: Friday night Brielle started to cough and right before bed we gave her ibuprofen for a fever. She coughed all night. The next day I debated taking her in to the doctor because her cough did not sound good. Nick thought she sounded better and we should wait. (First "motherly instinct" thwarted). She got progressively worse as the day wore on. Before we put her to bed we stood in a hot shower with her, but she still woke up crying an hour later. I thought she felt hot and I asked Nick to check her. He thought she wasn't as hot as the night before so I rocked her to sleep. (Second "motherly instinct" ignored). An hour later she felt even worse, so we gave her medicine and I ended up on the couch with her from 11:00pm- 3:00am. Sunday morning we rushed up to my mom's house to talk to my missionary brother who is serving in the Netherlands. Once my mom listened to Brielle coughing she said we needed to take her in. (Thanks Mom for making the decision!!) So the rest of the morning we looked for pediatric clinics that were open on Sunday. We found one at McKay Dee that could get us in at 12:00, but our church was at 1:00 and the Primary was singing. I was so torn and upset. I wanted to go with Brielle, but I also knew that Emma had been looking forward to singing on the "stage" for Mother's Day. So Nick and I split up. He took her to the doctor and I went to sacrament. This was the highlight of my day. Emma had been singing all morning and she couldn't wait to go up front. She looked so beautiful and grown-up singing with the Primary. She also asked when she gets to do it again (Father's Day). Brielle did end up having croup and a double ear infection, so they gave her antibiotics for her ears and a steroid medication for her lungs. I was grateful for some kind of diagnosis (other than a "virus"), but upset with myself for second-guessing my instincts to take care of her. I have also lost patience with her over these last couple days because she has been extra clingy. Of course, I feel guilty for that, too. Agghhh. All I can say is that my Mother's Day was not exactly what I had planned, but after watching Emma sing to me and Brielle cuddle with me all weekend, I wouldn't trade motherhood for anything.

Melanie's May Wedding

Last weekend Nick and I had the opportunity to attend Melanie and Brock's sealing in the Bountiful Temple. Melanie has been one of my best friends since 7th grade. We met at Back to School night when my mom and her aunt started chatting because they had known each other in high school...... and the rest is history. We ventured through puberty, pimples, popularity, driving, dating, dances, and everything else involved with Jr. high and high school. We separated for a year and then I convinced her to be my roommate in sunny St George where we finished our associates degree. That year brought us some great memories between our roommate adventures and our highly stressful bread-making class!!! After that I got married and she continued plowing through school, serving a mission, and is only one year away from getting her Master's Degree in Speech Pathology/Therapy!! Through all of that we have kept in touch and tried to get together at least once a month. And for the last 4 summers we have done a girls weekend in St George where we attend a Tuachan performance, shop, eat, hike, swim and stay up late laughing our heads off. (I should mention there are actually 4 of us that have been friends since Jr. high). They have been the sisters that I never had. Each of them are amazing women and we have helped each other through some tough trials. But last weekend was a celebration for Melanie. I am so happy for her. She is the type of person that always takes care of others and is friendly to everyone. She has such a great sense of humor and can get all of us laughing. She is also spiritual, beautiful, and smart. It was so exciting to see her fall in love with a great guy that treated her the way she has always deserved! Congratulations Mel! It was a wonderful day!

Trampling through the Tulips

Our April tradition of visiting Temple Square to see the tulips with Nick's family is one of my favorites. This year we headed down on a Saturday instead of a Sunday which meant a visit to the Lion House for their amazing rolls and even more amazing chocolate cake! Brielle enjoyed her day in the stroller while snacking on Teddy Grahams. Emma filled her pockets with pennies from our change jar so she could throw them into the fountains (that is why most of the pictures feature the back of her head). That kept her pretty busy until we reached an area next to the Tabernacle that had no fountains. So, she started a game of tag through the grass and (oh, yes) the tulip beds!! Just at that moment I see a gentleman in a suit walking toward us and I knew our tulip tradition was over. I tried not to get too angry since we were on Temple Square, but I could just picture this man taking me to Temple Square security to question my ability of keeping my 4 yr old from trampling all of the tulips. By the time Emma was finally out of the flower bed, the man was right behind me. He laughed and said "Now, you weren't telling your daughter that I was a mean guy coming to get her, were you?" I laughed but didn't try to deny it! Of course I told Emma this man was coming to get her out of the tulip beds! If it was just me trying to get her out she would have played for another 10 minutes! Luckily after that we got her distracted by taking her into the visitor centers which created some great conversations with her about the pioneers, prophets, and temples. All in all--the tradition lives on!