We Had a Rough Day

Let's just say, the title explains it all. But, if you'd like details (mostly I'm writing them down for my journal and because it's good therapy), here they are:

6:09 a.m.--Morgan and Sadie come running down the hall into our bedroom. I feel Morgan's head and she's quite warm. I guess she's not going to preschool today.
7:00 a.m.--Brian leaves for work. I put on 101 Dalmatians for the girls while I clean up breakfast and get ready.
8:30 a.m.--I start 101 Dalmatians over again. (Hey, if it's keeping the sick, whiny kid happy...)
8:45 a.m.--My neighbor calls and needs some help today, but she's not quite sure when, so she'll call me back. So, I can't leave just yet to run errands.
9:40 a.m.--Neighbor calls and doesn't end up needing my help. Back to plan A.
10:00 a.m.--Let each of the girls pick a snack and then we get in the car to run our two quick errands. (Bad Idea #1: Not opening the snack until we got to Sam's Club. Sadie SCREAMED the whole way there because I wouldn't open her bunny crackers.)
10:20 a.m.--Get to Sam's Club and open the girls' snacks. They eat while I get some pictures printed. (Bad Idea #2: Letting Sadie hold the bag of crackers. She left a sizable pile on the Sam's Club floor that I would have felt bad leaving, so I picked 'em up and put 'em in the trash.)
10:45 a.m.--We only had 2 things on our list, and the girls were getting antsy, so I went to check to see if the pictures were done. They were (thank goodness!!). I paid for them and off we went to errand #2.
11:00 a.m.--Arrive at Michaels. I only had to get one thing, so this was a quick trip.
11:15 a.m.--Leaving Michaels, I realize the pictures I just bought aren't in my purse, which means they are still at the photo counter at Sam's Club.
11:16 a.m.--Yup, you guessed it. We headed back to Sam's. Luckily, the same lady was still at the photo counter and she had our pictures waiting. (Why would it be anyone else, we had only been gone a few minutes!)
11:16 a.m. (still)--Sadie gives one of her big "I'm tired and will fall asleep in the car" yawns. I can't let her fall asleep in the car, she hasn't had lunch and won't nap very long. Or, if I wake her up for lunch, she won't go back down. Off to the food court.
11:45 a.m.--After two less than satisfying hot dogs (we all shared them--they weren't just for me!), we're on our way home!
12:05 p.m.--Sadie fell asleep in the car, so I lay her down in her bed. Morgan gets all her "stuff" (click here) and lays in our room.
12:06 p.m.--Get a phone call and I need to make a bunch of Relief Society calls this afternoon (I'm Compassionate Service Leader). That would be okay, except...
12:10 p.m.--Morgan has to go potty. (Anyone who has small children knows that she'll then need a drink...the stalling goes on and on.)
12:45 p.m.--Morgan is finally back in bed (not asleep, but at least in bed).
12:47 p.m.--I hear Sadie! Yippee! (that's sarcasm, if you haven't caught on by now) Morgan's not asleep yet, either, so she's decided not to take a nap today, either. I had already made the frosting and baked the cake for a friend's birthday (which I was planning on decorating during naptime), so I did it anyway. Only, with one whiny preschooler and one screaming toddler.
1:45 p.m.--I finally decided I just had to laugh at Sadie. Here's what she looked like while I did the cake. I offered a chair so she could stand at the counter and watch, but she refused. Instead, she laid on the floor and screamed. (It's a good thing I somehow managed to get the kitchen swept this morning)

2:00 p.m.--I don't even remember why anymore, but Morgan decided to cry on the kitchen rug, too. Sadie just joined right along with her. To keep from crying myself, I decided to take a picture to distract myself (Plus I had just finished taking pictures of my cake, so I had the camera in my hand. For pictures of the cake, click here).

The rest of the afternoon was kind of a blur. When we delivered the cake about 2:30, both of the girls were all smiles. But, they both refused to eat their dinner, and were crying hysterically again by 6:00. Bathtime was very short and they were both in bed by 6:30 and asleep by 6:45.
*****
As for me, I'm still recovering, but typing out this post has been therapeutic and looking back at my day, I'm glad it's over, and now it's offering much needed comic relief!

Oh, Morgan!

Remember last week when Morgan said this?

"Brian asked Morgan if she loved him. She replied, "Yes." Then, he asked her how much. She opened her arms and strecthed her fingers out as far as she could reach and said, "This much!" He then asked how much she loved mommy. (Remember, I'm standing right there.) She quickly shrinks her arms down to about shoulder width apart and says, "This much." So, we know who wins the favorite parent award. "

Well, this morning, over breakfast, she also said this:

Brian (to Morgan): Who's the best daddy in the whole wide world?

Morgan: Heavenly Father.

I think Brian was expecting a different answer.

We love you, Morgan! (And you too, Daddy!)

Grandma Tammy and Papa Dale's Visit!

Last weekend, Grandma and Grandpa came up to visit us. They were very excited to hear that our weather would be near 60 degrees and no rain! (If you've heard about So. Cal, that's what they went home to!)

The last time it snowed was Christmastime. We got several inches and it hasn't been too warm, so it's stuck around for a long, long time. To make their grandparents feel more at home, Morgan and Sadie became the snow removal crew and would spend as long as we would let them out in the cold (I could usually only stand about 15 minutes and they'd come in, kicking and screaming), filling their buckets. The next day, their buckets were empty (we'd dump out the melted snow) and they'd start all over.

Even when Grandma and Grandpa were here, they insisted on finishing the job. One small scoop at a time, and a lot of sunlight to speed up the process.

I didn't take too many pictures because we were having so much fun and I forgot, but here's a shot of Grandpa and Sadie.

And Grandpa and Morgan. (Don't you just love her outfit? She picked it out herself!)

And, Sadie, playing in her new present from Grandma and Grandpa. If you'd like to see what it is, click here. So far, the girls have used them as helmets, spy glasses, toy holders, chairs, spinners, stools...who knows what they'll come up with next!

Thanks so much for visiting! We had a great weekend!

What We've Been Up To...

Aside from our ever-hectic life, here's some "just stuff" from our ordinary daily lives.

1. Sadie found a new place to store her water bottle. She encounters a problem when I need to open the oven door, so she's still "working out the kinks."



2. Morgan has turned into the most detailed "Ants on a Log" builder that you'll ever find! I'm serious! She puts so many raisins on so perfectly, it takes at least 5 minutes to finish just one celery stick! It's become an art for her. (I wonder where her OCD comes from :) !)

3. Remember that chain we made here? Towards the end, the girls got very excited to take a link off everyday. We'd been doing it for so long, it had become part of our daily routine. So, here they are, at the very end. When they woke up the next morning, Grandma and Grandpa were there!

Small Talk

Since receiving CandyLand for Christmas, Morgan talks us (Brian and I) into playing it regularly. The other night, during her turn, she said, "I want to draw Frosting." (For those of you who haven't played in a while, it's the ice cream cone card that lets you skip almost to the very end. It's heaven sent for a parent who is "lucky" enough to play it so often.) Upon drawing her card and NOT getting "Frosting" like she wanted, Morgan replied as she tossed her card into the discard pile, "What a joke!" Brian and I couldn't help ourselves and just cracked up laughing!

Later that same evening, Brian asked Morgan if she loved him. She replied, "Yes." Then, he asked her how much. She opened her arms and strecthed her fingers out as far as she could reach and said, "This much!" He then asked how much she loved mommy. (Remember, I'm standing right there.) She quickly shrinks her arms down to about shoulder width apart and says, "This much." So, we know who wins the favorite parent award.

TowersWatson

The merger became official today. Nothing too exciting about it. Brian still works in the same office, with the same people, doing the same actuarial stuff.

Random Pics

Just thought I'd post a little of what's happening in the normal day-to-day at our house.

Sadie learned how to climb onto the coffee table under the window and spends much of her time gazing out the window while playing with whatever toys she brought up with her.


She's also discovered her flair for art. Between two doodle pads and pens, and 4 shape stamps to go with, she scribbles all day long!

Morgan takes a nap in our bedroom so she and Sadie will actually sleep!! Everyday, right after lunch, she goes to her room and grabs all her "naptime stuff" to bring into our room. She insists on her own pillow and blanket everyday. I just love this picture because this is how she brings it down the hall everyday. She insists on making only 1 trip, so she creatively carries Bunny in her teeth.

If we remember to go, Home Depot and Lowe's have free kid worksjops a couple of Saturdays each month. While Morgan and Brian made a calendar, Sadie pounded the blocks on the table.

Here's a cute picture of Morgan and Brian concentrating hard on their project.

Happy New Year!!

It hasn't snowed in over a week, but it we haven't had temperatures much higher than freezing, either. So, we still have several inches of snow in the yard.

I didn't get pictures of the the arctic fox, but look at all those tracks in the backyard! We saw him dart across the front lawn, too! Here's our little snowbunny, Sadie. It doesn't matter the temperature, she's out there playing!

Brian thought it would be fun to play Bocce ball on Saturday afternoon. It was a gorgeous day (we got up to about 37 degrees!), so we headed out to the backyard.

We really enjoy this game. In the past, we've only played in the summer time. Now, we know why.

When you throw a white ball into white snow, it tends to get lost. Again and again and again...

Morgan was a trooper, though. Each time she threw it out into the snow, she'd carefully step all around where she thought she threw it until she finally found it.

I guess we just found a new "twist" to this classic lawn game!

It Snowed Again!

Before we moved to Colorado, we did our research. The weather is supposedly similar to Utah's and everyone said, "Oh, it snows. But, it's almost always melted by lunchtime, so it's not that big of a deal." "Okay," we thought. 3 of our 4 Christmases it has snowed. A Lot. And, the one that it didn't, we were in Arizona!

So, here are the girls, out shoveling snow again. (This is 3 of the last 4 days, we've been out shoveling)

Sadie even thought it was fun to put her face straight into the snow!

She also got her own shovel out to help.

But then, decided it was too much work, so she took a break.

Here she is, supervising her Dad's shoveling. I don't care what she thinks, he did a fabulous job! Thanks, sweetie!

Morgan wanted to "save" some snow in her bucket. We told her it would turn into water, but she continued to fill it up. Now, there's a bucket of water in the garage.

And, the 6+ inches we've received over the last couple of days made for perfect sledding snow. Our neighbors have a nice slope in their front yard that goes into our yard, so we asked them if we could use it for our sledding hill. Brian got a new sled for Christmas, and he wanted to try it out.
They even let us borrow their sled so we had two.

Sadie is adventurous!! She couldn't get enough sledding! We'd just lay her in the disk and push her and off she went!!

Morgan, on the other hand, prefers to be a little more cautious.

Look at Sadie's knees. See how deep the snow is?

Here's Mackenzie and Sadie in the sled. Lots of fun!

If we could stay home and play in the snow everyday, we'd love it!

Merry Christmas!!!

We went over to the Mulberry's (a family in our ward) for Christmas Eve, so I made these cupcakes and displayed them in a "tree". We had a lot of fun and Morgan thoroughly enjoyed the gift exchange. She ended up picking a fondue set, so if anyone is interested in dipping melted chocolate with a 3 year old, I'd be glad to bring the mess to your house to enjoy with her!

Here's the girls on Christmas Eve, sporting their new jammies. They say, "Big Sister" and "Little Sister".

With small children in the house, very few items can be left safely under the tree before Christmas. Hence, the bare tree in the previous picture, and the generously filled tree below.

Fast Forward about 12 hours to Christmas Moring (yes, a full 12 hours. Our kids didn't wake up until after 7. Even then, Morgan was more interested in sleeping until we pulled her out of bed about 7:15).

Morgan dumping out all the goodies in her stocking.

The girls forgot to leave out cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer, so Santa left them a note saying he helped himself to some in the kitchen.

He was, however, kind enough to leave part of one on the plate and the girls helped him finish it off.

In order to have room to open our gifts, we moved the table across the room. So, we decided to have a french toast picnic on the floor in front of the Christmas tree.

Isn't Sadie adorable?

Sadie's first gift (and the only one she actually opened, I think) was a stroller from Morgan. Now, they each have a doll stroller for their babies.

And, Sadie was content for quite some time to just push her stroller around.

About a week and a half ago, Brian's biggest present came in the mail. I wasn't expecting the box to be THAT big, so we had to leave it in the living room (where would you hide that?). After 10 days of torture, he finally got to open it.

The surprise? A TV antenna. I know, kind of anti-climatic, but he was actually pretty excited.

Oh, I lied. Sadie opened 2 presents. This one's a new book that we've read to her several times each day since. I've got it memorized, if you'd like to hear it!

And, here she is, reading her book. It's called "Fifteen Animals" by Sandra Boynton. And, I'll give you the cliff notes version: They're all named Bob, except the turtle.

Sadie wasn't too thrilled about all her new clothes, but the box, on the other hand....

Morgan dubbed herself the gift distributor, and, somehow, she thought they all had her name on them. Hmmmmm....

We made Sadie at least sit down when we opened up her gifts for her.

And, she pretended to like them, temporarily. But then, she was back to her stroller.

Or, her book. Here's Brian reading it, again.

Morgan's highlight was CandyLand. She's never played it until now, but has been talking about it daily for about a month. So, we played. 3 times.

And, that about sums up our Christmas. We are so blessed to spend this time together as a family, but most importantly, for our Savior, and the opportunity we have to teach our girls about Him and His example.