Whitney's Newest

Whitney has been so much more verbal lately. And, the ways she is expressing herself just crack me up! The other day, Ryan was sitting down on the couch to read with the girls. Whitney started going after the books, so Ryan moved them to his other side. As he was doing so, Whitney said, "HEY! No, no, no!" Both Ryan and I just started laughing! ("Hey!" is one of her favorite phrases right now.)

Whitney has also started taking great pleasure in simply letting us know she KNOWS words. This morning, she brought an open Little Einsteins book to me. She was pointing to a picture saying, "Dile! Dile!" When I looked, sure enough, there was a crocodile. She then went through all the names of the "Steins" (as she calls them) and smiled a HUGE smile when she finished.

Maybe I still see Whitney as younger than she is, (since she's my baby right now), but I am constantly amazed by the things she has learned in the past 20 months. It is fascinating to see what a difference a few months can make. I am truly watching the miracles of life and learning happen right in front of me. I just can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Bobs on the Tide

Tonight, I was doing a few things on the computer and Ryan turned on some old EFY music to listen to while we hung out in the office. WOW. The music is all stuff I listened to mainly on my mission and it really put me in a state of memory. I think about how I was as a missionary--it was certainly not an easy time of life, (what time of life is easy, really?), but it was an amazing time of my life. I felt so bold and so strong in my testimony of the gospel. I was so focused and ready to work. Now, there are so many distractions in my life that some days I really wonder what happened to that girl from a few years ago.

When I had about two months left in my mission, I was sent back to Riga--where I had been trained. I had left about 10 months earlier and Russian-speaking sisters hadn't served there for about 6 months. AND--I was to train a new sister, too. Within a matter of days, we reorganized apartments, got settled, and we were off. About 3-4 weeks later, another new sister, a native Russian, joined our companionship and I was then training these 2 amazing, but very different sisters. During the 10 months I had been gone, my very first convert, Lena, had left the church, but when I returned she took it upon herself to search me out and tell me everything that was wrong with me and the Church.

By this time, I was pretty used to Russians and I did not sugar coat ANYTHING for them, as they like it all up front. So, I got into a few discussions with Lena. She yelled at me and I boldly stated my testimony back to her. I testified of the apostacy, that the true church of Jesus Christ was restored through Joseph Smith; that God, who still loves His children, has continued to provide prophets on the earth since that time; that the Book of Mormon is true; and most of all, that Jesus Christ lives and guides His church. I remember one evening in particular, she hounded me for a couple of hours, following me around the church building in Centre. By the time I got home that night, I felt truly shaken. In spite of all of the miraculous and amazing experiences of the previous 18 months, (I came home about 10 days short of 19 months), my very first convert had me questioning what I had been doing for that "pohl-terah-godah" (year and a half, in Russian).

Honestly, I feel a more perfect opportunity could not have come to me at that time in my mission. It was my chance to really come to understand whether my efforts were accepted by the Lord and it was a wonderful opportunity to strengthen my own testimony. The next morning, I spent my usual time in the scriptures and in the Missionary Library books. And, by the end of that hour, I didn't have a single doubt in my mind. I knew that my short time of service had been accepted and appreciated by a loving God and a loving Savior. The next time I saw Lena, all I could do was quietly testify and tell her that I loved her and that I knew God and Jesus Christ loved her, too. And, then, I didn't see her again.

Even though that experience was so difficult, I miss it dearly. The great news, though, is that those experiences will always be part of me, not only for now, but forever as well. I think about meeting my people again at the "Ultimate Mission Reunion"--and I honestly look forward to it.

As for the title, that's a joke between me and one of my companions having to do with Russian grandmas and an EFY song. It would take too long to explain it here...but if you really want to know, leave me a comment and I'll explain in another post.

Saturday Night & Frog Eye

Last night, our little family headed up to Kaysville to get together with a group of friends from college. It's something that we do with this same group fairly regularly--Rachel, Roger and Ana, Rich and Kristi, and Mom and Dad Larsen. We met when we all attended the same ward where Dad Larsen was bishop of our student ward. And, we've all been family ever since. ;) We sat and chatted about people we knew in the ward while the kids kept each other entertained. It was such a fun evening!

And, as part of our little get together, we had a BBQ. I brought Frog Eye Salad and since the recipe was requested, I figured I would post it here for anyone else who was interested as well. It's a GREAT summer salad!

Frog Eye Salad
1 cup sugar
2 Tbl flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups pineapple juice, (drained from pineapple)
2 beaten eggs
1 Tbl lemon juice

Combine sugar, flour, and salt in medium saucepan. Gradually stir in pineapple juice and eggs. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened. Add lemon juice and cool mixture to room temperature.

3 qt. water
1 Tbl oil
1 pkg. Acini de Pepe pasta
2 tsp salt

Bring water, salt, and oil to a boil. Add Acini de Pepe and cook until done, (10-12 min.). Drain, rinse well, and drain again.

2 cans (20 oz.) pineapple tidbits, drained
1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained
3 cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup mini marshmallows, (I use more)
1 cup coconut (optional)
1 contained (12 oz.) Cool Whip

Combine Acini de Pepe with sauce mixture; add pineapple, oranges, marshmallows, and coconut. Lightly mix in Cool Whip. Cover tightly and refrigerate. Stores up to a week.
Makes 25 servings.

Paper Chickens

After we got back from our usual Saturday grocery shopping, Kallie informed us that she wanted to make paper chickens. I had NO idea what she was talking about, but told her that we'd discuss it later. Well, skip to later...I was taking a nap and Ryan was cleaning the house when Kallie asked again. Ryan, being the amazing father (and husband!) that he is, took Kallie over to the "useful box" and pulled out the requested items: paper, cotton balls (pom-poms), and glue. He handed her the items and she was off and running while he kept cleaning. When I woke up, I came out to a clean house, a very happy 3-year old, and paper chickens. Here are the results of her project, (which you can plainly see ARE paper chickens):
Ryan amazes me. I, being a graduate of Family Science, often feel that I must have some sort of goal in mind with these projects. They must be educational and they must have a recognizable result. And, to avoid too much of a mess on Kallie and her surroundings, I try to keep some kind of control over the situation. But, Ryan didn't worry about all of that that--he just let her use what she wanted from our supplies, (collected for this exact purpose), and let her go. Ryan often tells me that I'm "the brains behind this operation," especially in relation to the kids. But, it often seems my education gets in the way--and his "wingin' it" turns out much better than my applied theories. What a great example from my husband of how to be a fabulous parent!

Another installment of Kallie-isms!

I have quite a few of these lately. Either Kallie has been pretty funny the past week or so, or I just haven't been paying attention until then. Here we go...

Thursday, during our Pioneer Day celebration at my Gramma's house, we had a little BBQ. My aunt brought corn on the cob. And, since this is one of Kallie's favorite foods, she couldn't wait to have some. She proudly carried it on her plate and told me, "Mom! I got corn on the bob!" Which, of course, made me laugh. Then, Saturday night, we made some more corn--which this time, was Bobcorn. I'm not sure if it was a combination of corn on the bob and popcorn...or if she was inspired by the VeggieTales movie we were watching...

This morning, Kallie was sitting at the table eating the banana and peanut butter she had requested for breakfast, when she announced she needed to go potty. (What is it about sitting down at the table that makes a 3-year old have to go potty?) Knowing how much Whitney likes bananas, Kallie told her, "Whitney, don't touch my banana while I'm going potty!" She then hopped out of her chair and said, "Mom, I told Whitney not to touch my banana and she was like, 'WHAT'?" LOL! Obviously, I must talk like a valley girl from time to time--where else would she learn that?

Later today, Kallie decided she was going to play airplane. So, she set up her seat, put on her pretend seatbelt, and then realized she'd forgotten to pack a suitcase. I retrieved her ladybug backpack and then heard Kallie whining and complaining a few minutes later. When I asked what the problem was, she said, "MOM! I have too much elephant in my backpack!" (We have a sand-filled elephant from Seattle--and it's pretty heavy.) Her comment seemed rather out of place and definitely funny.

The Tub is NOT a Potty

Over the past few weeks, Whitney has developed a pretty bad habit. It seems almost every time we put her in the tub, she decides to add her own special touch to the bath water. Today was no different. I saw the familiar floatie in the tub and pulled the girls out. While they stood dripping and freezing on the bath mat, I grabbed an old Cool Whip dish and scooped out the offender. As the tub drained, I pulled out all the toys and tossed them into the sink, which I had filled with bleach water. I was sure glad I'd only put half of the bath toys in the tub tonight!

While all this was going on, the girls escaped into the family room for a few minutes--which was fine with me because I still had to clean the tub and couldn't fully appreciate their little helping hands at the moment. I sprayed it down with cleaner, looked out into the family room, and noticed that Whitney was sitting on something while she played with toys. It took a few seconds to register that she had just finished what she started in the tub. Since I was working on the bathroom, Ryan hurried to whisk Whitney away from the second potty disaster of the day. Unfortunately, he didn't reach her before she decided to move around a bit...I'll leave the rest of that description up to your parent-inspired imagination. At this point, both Ryan and I were laughing at the situation. (Thank goodness we'd had a relaxing day...otherwise, I may have been crying!)

By the time he got her cleaned up, I had finished cleaning the tub, so I got the girls back in and scrubbed them down. It gave Ryan just enough time to finish cleaning the carpet before we jammied them and got them into bed for the night. At the end of it all, I have three thoughts:
1. I'm sure grateful BYU cleans our carpets three times each year!
2. How great that the afore mentioned carpet cleaners are scheduled to come this week.
3. How in the world do you teach a 19-month old that the bathtub is not a potty? (And neither is the family room, for that matter!)

Pioneer Day

Pioneer Day is a great holiday--especially when you're at BYU--and one reason I love living in Utah. Ryan got the day off and then since the next day was Friday, he took that one off as well. So, we've had pretty much 3 Saturdays in a row, which has been a great opportunity to get a few projects crossed off our list.

Thursday morning, we headed over to our storage unit bright and early. I went through bins of baby clothes and emptied out those I don't like or we're not going to use anymore. Ryan went through other boxes to make sure we knew what was in them and cleaned out a few things we're not using anymore. We went through our camping supplies and got rid of duplicate items. We actually didn't get rid off too much, but it was enough to shrink down our piles of stuff. And, the reorganization effort made a huge difference. At least I feel ready to pack the stuff onto a moving truck in a few months and know it's not just junk we're transporting from place to place.

Thursday, we also finally installed our air conditioner. I was holding off on doing this because I hate not being able to open my front window and let the breeze in. Plus, our window looked so ghetto last year that I was not looking forward to having it look that way again. This year, however, we found transparent duct tape, (who knew it existed?), and Ryan managed to fit all the weather stripping in so it can hardly be seen. It looks 1000 times better than last year! (Definite props to my amazing husband!)

Friday, Ryan took Kallie out early to wash the car. (This is another bonus of living in Wymount--a free carwashing area, complete with hoses and vacuums.) As soon as they got back, we headed over to Seven Peaks, (waterpark), to break in our season passes. Kallie and Whitney LOVED playing in the water. Kallie really enjoyed the mini waterslides and Whitney enjoyed kicking back on her floatie ring in the wave pool. It was a great time! (Well, except for my sunburned head. I remembered to put sunscreen on the parts in the girls' hair, but not my own!) We completely wore them out and they took great naps as soon as we got home.

Today has been full of our normal Saturday activities...well, mostly. After taking a load to DI, we headed over to the grocery store where there was a Country Fair themed activity. Kallie and Whitney went to the petting zoo for a few minutes before we went in to the store. (Don't worry--we sanitized them before we picked up the groceries!) In a little while, we'll be heading over to our ward "Water Party" and then we plan to have a nice, relaxing evening before the craziness of Sunday hits.

Spoiled

Those of you who are long-time readers may remember my laundry posts from last summer. Those of you who are not long-time readers will appreciate being spared from reading those complaints...but unfortunately, you will not be spared from this one. (Unless, of course, you stop reading right about now.)

During the two weeks we were in Seattle, we did laundry twice. And, WOW, what a great experience it was both times! I hauled our laundry bag downstairs, separated it into three piles, and got it all done without leaving the house once. I got it all folded that night and--badda-boom, badda-bing--the laundry was DONE! Seriously, I didn't even mind doing the laundry.

Then we came home and I realized how spoiled I was actually having a washer and dryer in the house! Once again, it's back to production-style laundry. Hauling 5 bags of laundry out to the car, driving them to the laundry building, (which is better than walking it all over), unloading all five bags into washers, and then coming home. 30 minutes later, I head out to change loads which includes cleaning other people's lint out of the dryers and carting 5-6 loads of laundry across the building. After the dryers' 40 minutes are up, I'm back once again to shove hot laundry into a big bag and a laundry basket to haul it all home again. If I'm lucky, I have enough desire and energy to fold it that night...otherwise it waits for at least a day before I even feel like touching it again. I dread even starting the process because it's such a hassle.

I'm telling you--if I never see another commercial washer or dryer after we move out, I will not be in the least bit sad. I just REALLY look forward to the day that I have a washer and dryer in my home once again! (And, for all those of you who are lucky enough to have them...give them a huge hug and tell them how much you appreciate them!) :)

562 Pictures Later...

Well, I downloaded half of our Seattle pictures and then the camera battery died. I'm also going to have to sort through ALL of the pictures, which could really take a while. So, the rest of Seattle will just have to wait a little longer.

Scenes from the Life of a Mommy

I still need to finish blogging about our Seattle trip...but I want to wait until I download the pictures before I do that. So, instead, I've posted the four previous posts which are scenes from my recent life. I was going to put them all in one post, but it was a super long post--so I broke them down into smaller chunks.