Nose Kisses

I should be posting about our awesome trip with our good friends, The Pickett's, but I'm not. I should be sleeping because I only got 4 hours of sleep last night, but I'm not. I should at least be doing the dishes since they are overflowing, but I'm not. I wanted to post a little something about Elsie instead so that I don't forget some of her more precious moments.

The other night I taught her about Eskimo kisses but she calls them, Nose Kisses. It has turned into one of my most favorite things. I say, "Can I have a nose kiss?" And then we rub our noses together. Then she will ask for a "cheek kiss" and we will rub our cheeks together. Then she will ask for a "hair kiss" and we will rub our heads together. I got home tonight from a meeting and Ty had taught her to chin kiss and to lip kiss, which is just a regular kiss. It melts my heart every time.

Yesterday, Elsie was sitting on my lap and she head butted me pretty good right on my nose. Ty was on the other side of the room and he even heard my nose crack from the hit. She wasn't phased by it at all but I have been nursing a pretty good headache and I am feeling quite a bit of sinus pressure. Ty assures me that my nose is not broken, THANK GOODNESS. But tonight I was telling Elsie that she needed to be gentle with my nose when we would do "nose kisses" because my nose hurt. She immediately suggested that we put a band aid on my nose. I tried to explain that it was an owie that a band-aid was not going to fix and all on her own, she kissed my nose. It was so sweet and it really did make my nose feel better. I love how tender her heart is.

And I had to add this last picture because it caught a very classic Elsie moment. This is her saying, "I'll be right back." Which has to say while pointing at me. It cracks me up because she says it so matter of factly (Factly? Is that a word?).

On The Farm

One of the perks of living in Arkansas is that we know people who have farms. They have horses, goats, chickens and cows! And they let you bring your kiddos over so that they can "play" (really, it was more like terrorize) their animals.
Elsie loves animals. She chases our neighbors cat all over the cul-de-sac. She points out every bird. She will ask to go on car rides and look for horses and cows. And every time she sees an animal she always says, in her cutest baby voice, "OH!!! Tute kitty cat." Or, "Oh, tute chicken." It's really darling.
We got invited the other day by a lady from our church to see her farm. I was so excited to see Elsie's reaction. I thought she would be timid at first and would be a little scared of the goats but that was not the case at. The second I took her out of the car, she was off chasing the dogs and when we got in the goat/chicken pen, she was clearing out the chicken coop. It was pretty funny. Even the lady commented on her exuberance. Here are some pics of our day:


I'm very surprised that the chickens and the rooster didn't attack Elsie. She really was so excited to be there.
I love this last picture of Elsie's friend, Clara. This cute little baby goat thought her shirt was too delicious to pass up.

There is something so calming about being in the middle of the country. I didn't want to leave. As we were driving back, I was telling my friend that I don't know the first thing about owning horses but I would want to own horses if I lived out there just because they look so beautiful being part of the landscape.
I hope that lady invites us back soon. Or at least after her animals recover from our visit.

Just for laughs

The other day after church, I was trying to get a picture of Elsie wearing this adorable polka dot cardigan and little pencil skirt that I made her (I made the skirt, not the cardigan...wouldn't that be a talent?). It wasn't going so well. Ty said, "Let's try to take a family photo. We haven't taken one in a while." I thought that was a grand idea and got the camera ready and we all posed. Even Marley the dog cooperated. And then we took a few more, just for good measure and because I am my father's daughter. Then I looked at the pictures and started laughing to myself. To most who see this picture, you probably won't get it right away but let me explain:

Did you notice Elsie's sweet mullet? I can't believe I didn't notice it til it was too late but I sent my daughter to church with a mullet! Seeing her in this picture is like looking in the mirror when I was her age...oh yes, I had a sweet mullet too!
Anyways, this picture makes me chuckle so I thought I would share it with you all.

Today...

...Today we went for a little drive up to Beaver Lake to scope out some campsites for future scout trips (Ty is the ward Scout Master and is LOVING it). We decided to make it a family affair and it was perfect. We spent a few hours just hanging around the lake and Elsie could have spent all day throwing every rock she could pick up into the water.

This little girl is so funny. I can put a big bowl of water and two measuring cups in front of her and she would be entertained for hours. I kid you not, we did this quite a bit during the big snow storms. She loves pouring the water into one cup and back into the other. Over and over and over again. This is all she does during her bath time too.

I figure there has got to be some therapeutic value in doing it.

I can't get over how grown up she is getting though. She talks all the time and imitates everything we do. I wish I could have video taped her during the big BYU vs San Diego game. She copied every cheer or groan Ty made to. a. T! It was adorable.

I took quite a few pictures of her as she played with the rocks and the water but I absolutely love how this one turned out. I love her little, petite profile.

Raid This February 2011

Wow, it has been a long time since I have updated the blog and an even longer time since I have shared some of the songs that have been on constant repeat on my iPod these days.

I am loving Florence and the Machine right now! I debated which version of Dog Days Are Over to put on the playlist; Florence's or the version from Glee but I stuck with Florence. Althought, Glee did such a fab job with it. I feel that I have to put up a huge disclaimer on her other song, Kiss With A Fist. I'm not an advocate for domestic violence in any way/shape/form, and I don't think Florence is either (we are on a first name basis, its cool). But this song is a great song to run to, it pretty much rocks.
I have been a huge fan of Mumford and Sons for a long time now and was so happy to see them perform on the Grammys with my other #1 band, The Avett Brothers. I love them! And then to watch them both with Bob Dylan, it was just...awesome!
The Girl from City & Colour is such a sweet song. I secretly want Ty to learn it on the guitar and sing it all day long.
There is one artist that I couldn't really find on Playlist.com that I am really loving, Mindy Gledhill. I love finding music that isn't necessarily gospel oriented (although she started as an LDS singer) but is uplifting, you can have a good time listening to it and I'm not embarrassed if my child learns the words to it. Mindy's new CD covers all those things. Thank you, Mindy!!! I haven't stopped listening to her new album, Anchor for the past two months, I love it!!! Go check her out on iTunes, especially the songs,
All The Pennies
Hourglass
Crazy Love
And support artists who write and perform good quality music.

Our Valentines Day

We have never really been big celebrators of Valentines Day. Ty proposed to me on Feb. 12th just so we wouldn't be one of a million other couples getting engaged on Valentine's Day. We kind of celebrate the 12th more than we do the 14th. I like it better that way. But now that we have Elsie, it was kind of fun to make the day a little bit more special for her as well. And I played the roll of a good wife and made some Valentines for Ty's co-workers.

When I saw this idea on my sister, Angela's Blog, I knew I had to make these for something...someone! Elsie and her friends weren't going to appreciate them but Ty's co-workers would. So, there you go! You can find the instructions Here. They are so simple and so brainless...perfect! One thing I did different, I used Rollos instead of Peanut Butter Cups. The Rollos are a little bit smaller and looked better proportionally, I think at least. I don't think anyone cares one way or the other, they are both very delightful candies to chow down on.
For Elsie, I made this little bag for her.

I got the tutorial from Momtastic and it is super simple and quick. I was actually quite surprised by how quick of a project it is. I just wish I had mastered the art of heart making as a kid because it took me several attempts to get some half decent looking hearts.

I filled it with some of Elsie's favorite candy; Sweet Tarts and Tootsie Rolls. To be honest, she would love any kind of candy but I can't not have candy in the house because I will eat it all by myself in one night (I have a bit of a sweet tooth) so I put candy in the bag that I knew wouldn't tempt me too badly. I can't stand Sweet Tarts and I feel pretty guiltless about a few Tootsie Rolls. Its a win/win. I also bought her a magnet Toy Story game which Elsie snatch out of the bag as quick as a ninja. Ty and I were dying over how quick she was.

Since it was FHE also, we tried to teach her about love. Pretty much we just ended up giving each other hugs. Even Marley got in on the action.
Overall, I feel like Valentine's Day was as success and I can't til next year to try some other fun ideas that I found throughout the blogging world.

Merry Christmas 2010

Wow, I promise I don't mean to go so long between posts. But really, did I have to let a whole month go by? But I couldn't go any longer without writing about our first Christmas here in Northwest Arkansas. The main reason that it was so awesome was because my parents flew out to stay with us for a few days. It was fun to show them around and give them a feel for life in Bentonville and as an employee of Wal-Mart. Here are some more highlights:
*Christmas Eve shopping with my mom and realizing that whipped cream to her does not mean Cool Whip (like it does for me). Must be a generational thing?
*Ty and my Dad going for a last minute shopping trip on Christmas Eve and coming back with a brand new Blu-ray player! Yay for us and yay for a Dad who loves technology.

He wasted no time getting us set up and squared away.
*Playing intense games of Scrabble...on our phones. But we did play a good game of Scattergories. Ty won of course and my mom made him feel about it...of course. It was fun to realize that my mom and I play games the exact same way. Even when we get competitive with other players we will say the exact same thing in the exact same way and even pause between each word for the same about of time. We must be mother and daughter. She is the one who taught me how to play games.
*Elsie calling her Grandpa, "Beepah."

Elsie was cozy with whoever had the biggest gadget at that time. I have no idea where she gets this from. :)
*This was our tree after Santa came by. I think was more excited for the play kitchen than Elsie was. And the small table and chairs was all Ty. I bought them on Craigslist but he restored them to their former glory. He even added a new table top to really make them last. I love them and Elsie loves to play with her new toys on it.

*Watching Elsie open up her presents. She loved the unwrapping part at first but I amazed how quickly she got overwhelmed with the whole experience. She was fine with just the Lightning McQueen car she got in her stocking and her brand new Woodie doll that replaced the one she lost at church a few weeks ago. That was a sad day.

*This is NOT the Woody doll I was talking about. This one I thought for sure would make her squeal with delight but instead, she covered her face in her hands until we took it away and has yet to really give him much attention. It was so sad and so hilarious at the same time. She loves Woody but prefers him not to be the same size as her.

*Doing FaceTime with all my siblings throughout the morning and watching all the nieces and nephews open their presents or show us what Santa brought earlier. I can see that being a new tradition now that we aren't getting together for Christmas anymore.
*I'm not sure how many Woody dolls one little girl needs but she loves Toy Story and LOVES Woody. He goes everywhere with us and heaven forbid he looses his hat.

*I loved the dress I made for her to wear to church the day after Christmas. I used the Oliver + S Playdate Dress and some not-so-obvious Christmasy fabric from Joanns. I was really worried after I completed it that it was going to be really frumpy on her but she wore it perfectly and looked so darling. This was the best picture I could get of her, she would stand still. Silly girl!

*And of course Elsie getting the chance to play with her Grandma. They tried playing Memory, Elsie likes to hoard the cards and doesn't really care about making a match. They painted, read books and played with all the new Cars...she was in heaven and I loved seeing them play together.

*And then last but not least, going with Elsie to visit Santa when he came to Ty's work. I thought she would love it but as you can see, she wanted nothing to do with the him.

I have to tell you about Santa's visit. Ty's team is in charge of creating the North Pole and getting Santa to show up. Santa wears an ear piece that receives information from hidden "elves" in another room. Before you enter the North Pole, you fill out a sheet with your child's name on it and different facts about your kid. Favorite toy, movie, foods. What they want for Christmas. And than something that they need to improve on next year (Elsie's was, eat you dinner...is she only child that will not sit down and eat her dinner? Please tell me no). So when your kid goes to sit on Santa's lap, Santa calls them by name and knows all sorts of things about them. Its like Santa truly has a list and is checking it twice. The kids get really into it and are so shocked when he knows their name before they even talk to him. Truly magical. Except for our daughter, there was nothing magical about her experience. But it made a great memory.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and enjoyed lots of love, family and food! I know we did!