Am I back???

Surprise!  I have been overcome with the guilt of an extremely out-of-date blog for too long I tell you.  I have blogs from over a year ago that I never posted because I was waiting until I was up-to-date to post them all at once, but that just hasn't happened so I am going to just post all of those old blogs from 2010 and then do a 2011 year-in-review.  The past is more for my own recollection so don't feel obligated to read what is to come from here on out.  We are looking forward--to the future--to the hope that I will be a more faithful blogger once again.  Here's hoping.

Pre-Spring Break Festivities...

Easter festivities started a week before Easter.  We participated in the Ward Easter Egg Hunt and dyed eggs at home.  The Sunday before Easter, the girls wore their Easter dresses because Easter Sunday coincides with General Conference this year.  I love our attempt to get a photo of the girls in their Easter outfits--Grace's headband keeps working its way down until it is covering her eyes.

 

Erin Go Braugh...

What does that even mean???  I too wondered as I typed in my ode to St. Patrick's Day title so I turned to the best source for information on the web--Wikipedia.  Apparently it means "Irish Forever".  So here's to the Irish forever...

Parades

Leprechaun Traps

Green, green, green everything

Corned Beef & Cabbage

And lots of mischief from that little Leprechaun (who of course happens to be a girl leprechaun at our house)

We didn't catch a real leprechaun--only chocolate ones, but that works for me.

Matt had just injured his knee playing church basketball, so this wasn't an easy thing for him to do.  Fortunately, the girls tore through the crepe paper rainbow after a few times of going up and down the stairs on their tummies.

Confession Time Again...

Every once in a while, Grace feels like she needs to confess all of her wrongdoings to me.  She will tell me little things that she has done wrong with all the flair and drama she can muster--she evens manages to squeeze a few tears out with the really bad confessions.  It is often difficult for me to keep a straight face during these confessions, and this time was no exception.  This one is one of the best yet...

Grace came to me with that look of guilt written all over her face, and I knew she was about to confess a wrongdoing...

"I said, Meanie, meanie coco leanie hanging on a ugly wu-wu-wu-weenie." (she whispered weenie with complete and utter shame in her voice)

I had to try my hardest not to laugh.  I then discussed with her that we shouldn't use words that refer to private parts of the body.  So maybe we shouldn't say that any more.

The next morning before school she added to the confession--admitting that she had left the last part off.

"I didn't tell you the last part...After the bad word I said "that pees on your head."

This time I laughed and asked "Do you even know what a weenie is?"

With shame she admitted "Yes, it's a boy's bum-bum."

Oh my!  That's a doozy!

Hate is such a strong word...

but it is the only word I can use to describe how I feel about lice and people who choose to keep the fact that their children have lice a secret.  So normally most people wouldn't discuss such circumstances with the world, but I know we didn't do anything to get lice except send Grace to school with a bunch of kids whose parents didn't feel it necessary to report their kids' lice to the school so what do I have to be embarrassed about?  The last few weeks have been a nightmare as I started off battling a cold and flu-like symptoms for the first week.  Then in the midst of my recovery, we discovered lice in Grace's hair.  My adrenaline took over, and I stayed up super late doing load after load of laundry and combing through Grace's hair for 5 hours straight.  This then led to me getting a SEVERE sinus infection that kept me pretty much flat on my back for three days so that I didn't pass out from the intense pain and infection in my head.  Which then led to me and Claira getting lice as we spent our days laying around on our pillows and couches instead of continuing to battle the lice from Grace. 

It has been a difficult thing to get rid of with hair like Grace's, and we couldn't have done it without my friend, Cyndi.  She works for a company that will come to your house and comb your family's hair for lice.  She helped us become lice free in a few short days--it was truly a blessing as I thought I was going to have a mental breakdown as I tried to battle my sinus infection and deal with a lice infestation at the same time (I'm quite sure when I called my mom in tears upon finding lice in my own hair, she thought I was really going to lose it).  Well, now we are lice free, and I consider myself a bit of a lice-elimination expert. I can only hope that Grace doesn't get lice again since nobody in her class seems to think it is important enough to report having lice to the school or to keep their kids home from school until the lice is gone.   So now you know why we have been laying low for the past few weeks.  I think we are ready to join the land of the living once again!  I have a few posts that are just awaiting pictures that I will publish as soon as I get caught up on all that we missed while battling lice and sickness.  But for now just know we are back, and we are lice free!

Look Ma! No Training Wheels!

It has taken us a while to get around to teaching Grace how to ride her bike without training wheels.  Matt tried a couple of times last summer, but she just wasn't ready yet. Then this winter has been so rainy and cold that it hasn't really been possible to dedicate a Saturday to the bike riding venture.  A couple of weeks ago, it was cold, but clear for the earlier part of the day so we decided the time was right.  We headed over to the school playground to teach Grace to ride her bike.  We prepped Grace for the fact that daddy was actually going to let go this time to allow her to go fast enough to stay upright and in balance.  She was a little worried but excited to learn.  She got on the bike and after a secondary push to get her started, Matt simply let go, and Grace just took off.  I didn't even have my camera out for the first attempt because I thought it would not be necessary.  She was just ready and there was no training necessary.  It is such a relief not having to feel guilty over not taking the time to teach her now.  Way to go Grace! 

Of course Claira had to show us her moves on her scooter and take a turn on the bike.  We also spent some time playing on the playground equipment.  What was I thinking when I decided to show Grace how mommy could skip bars on the monkey bars?  Does anybody remember that whole neck and shoulder pain thing I have been complaining about for the past year?  Yep!  It was definitely a bad idea and one I paid for dearly, but Grace was pretty impressed with my monkey bar skills.

Tourists for a Day...

About a week ago, Grace received a package in the mail from her cousin Elena in Las Vegas asking her to participate in a school project where we would take a laminated photo of Elena (Flat Elena) with us to show her where we live.  We decided it would be fun to show Elena San Francisco, so on Friday night we headed into the city.  We stayed in a "fancy" hotel and made plans for a day of tourist attractions in San Francisco. 

After a week of torrential rain, Saturday was supposed to be dry--supposed to be.  The day started off pretty rainy and wet, but it dried out eventually and our day of fun wasn't spoiled by the weather.  We took Flat Elena down Lombard Street, to the Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39, we rode the carousel at Fisherman's Wharf, and enjoyed ice cream at Ghiradelli Square.  We also got to see some classic San Francisco moments as we watched a HUGE pro-life march through the streets of San Francisco (at least a couple of thousand people), were approached by homeless people asking for money only to have Claira wave and say "BYE-BYE!" to them as we tried to hurry along the our way, and had some Asian tourists taking pictures of our kids then acting as if they weren't (a little weird, especially when they started following us and talking about our kids--we couldn't understand them, but we could tell they were talking about our kids because of the way they were staring at them and pointing at them and then trying to discreetly take their picture).  We had plans to ride a trolley car, but after Claira dropped her "orange juice mama" in the Bay while looking at the seals, we decided our plans needed to change.  She desperately needed a nap and without a pacifier to calm her, the fits were coming too frequently and too forcefully to make a cable car ride safe.  After getting Kara's cupcakes for an evening treat, we left the city in the late afternoon.  We had such a good time that we are excited to do it again.  It was so much fun to be tourists for the day.  We hope Elena enjoyed her time with us.