Monday, September 29, 2008

Updates of the Family

Shawn and I were able to go to the Atlanta Temple on Thursday!! It was so fun and such a nice break. Thank you Dawnell for watching the girls! It was a 6 hour round trip, but we feel so blessed to be somewhat close to a temple!

Shawn has been busy with school and bishopric. I have been busy with two crazy but adorable girls. We really do like living in Athens - It feels like we have always been here. We are definitely experiencing a lot, but we feel so blessed for such a wonderful family.


Cute Flowers!

I love the Temple!! They are all always so beautiful!



I told Shawn we needed to get good at taking pictures by ourselves for our Cruise!! YEP - you read right! WE ARE GOING ON A CRUISE! I decided that we needed some alone time, a break from school, the girls and our day-to-day routine. So from January 2-January 8 we will be in Florida, visiting the Bahamas! I am so excited. Shawn's parents are coming out to watch the girls which is perfect too! Sorry Mom and Dad, I knew you would come - but we will just have to plan another trip!!

With that being said, we have no plans coming home for the Holidays - but definitely we want to come back during the summer (I Hope!)




We are happy and so blessed! Thanks for reading and keeping updated with us! We would love to hear about all of you too!

Andie

Andie is turning two in December....need I say more?

She has been such a CRAZY girl, full of energy and love (for her toys and everything else she doesn't think someone should touch!) We had her friend Carter over last Thursday when Shawn was out making visits. He his much like DAVID (who we miss SO much!) It was so fun though, because when Carter and his mom (Rachel) were leaving Andie started saying, "Carty, Carty?" She was looking for him and absolutely adores him! Carter, we need to have you over more often!

Anyways, here are a few pictures of Andie
These were taken last Sunday - yes you know the day! She looked so cute with her pigtails, hard to see in the pictures of course, but she just looks like a grown up little girl. After she woke up, we got her dressed and enjoyed reading books!



Andie has not enjoyed eating lately, just wants "snacks" not dinner. So, I had to take picture because she was very much enjoying chicken alfredo that night.


She is such a goofy girl - but we love her SO much!

Ali

Ali has become our BIG, little girl. She is growing up WAY too fast. She loves Andie and wants and tries to do everything she does. YES - she is only 5 1/2 months old, but it is amazing what she does. She is great at scooting now and always follows Andie around the room. Andie doesn't like it, but Ali just laughs when Andie get's mad. It is great.

Ali is getting so big!! Yesterday, (I still need to take a picture), she wore an outfit that Andie wore for her 9 month pictures (you know the blue and brown dress) Yes, it is just her size, length wise! It was crazy!

Ali has enjoyed eating in the high chair. She thinks it is so fun being a big girl. She can never seem to get ENOUGH rice cereal. I should start her on vegetables/fruits but I am reluctant. Yes, she is only 5 1/2 months old, but really, I just don't want to PAY for them! What a mean mom I am. Oh well, she will get them soon, I am sure!


Ali LOVES her swing, but again, because she is so tall, she is almost growing out of it. She loves to grab the birds (video below) and reach for anything. I have to strap her in or else she would fall out! She is such an active baby! HELLO FEET - This looks funny, but she never relaxes - she is ALWAYS trying to sit up, really since she was born, always lifting her head. She hasn't figured that one out though, sitting up on her own! She is master in command at scooting though!

Friday Night our ward had a hoe down. It was SO much fun. We had a chili cook-off which they didn't judge, but I thought mine was delicious! I made it up as I went and it turned out GREAT!! They had a professional caller come and he and his wife were all dressed up. They taught us to square dance. She offered to hold Ali to I could "fully" participate! It was so fun. It could be that we had the best SQUARE there! We had fun laughing at (I mean with) President & Sister Bradley, Bishop & Sister Johnson, and Brian & Rachel Whigham! Thanks guys - we had a BLAST!

Once again, not the best video - but enjoy! Ali is so fun to have in our family!
, t

Monday, September 22, 2008

Life is Wonderful!

Molly’s Daily Schedule

7:00 Morning Prayer

7:15 Family Prayer

7:30 Personal Scripture Study

8:00 Go Walking/Exercise

9:00 Breakfast/Shower/Bath Girls

12:00 Lunch/Naps

4:30 Start Dinner

5:30 Dinner

7:00 Walking with Joy

8:00 Bedtime for Girls

9:00 Scripture Study w/ Shawn

9:30 Family Prayer

10:00 Personal Prayer/ Bedtime


So I am going to attempt the above and let you all know how I do. With this posted openly, maybe I will actually stick to it!! (ha,ha)

Sunday, September 21, 2008

One of Those Days

I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way today, but it got the best of me. It started out last night, when Shawn had to go to the Stake Youth Dance. They require a member of the bishopric, a member of the YM & YW presidencies from each ward to be at the dance. A little extreme in my opinion, especially when you only have 5-6 youth in your ward, but whatever I am supportive. He called once and said there were more adults than youth and only one youth had come from our ward. I said, "It would be great to have you home, ask if you can leave." A little while later, he called and said he was required to stay. I sitll don't know why - I felt they were going by the letter of the law, not the spirit of the law. First, when you husband is gone 6 of the 7 nights of the week - life is hard. When he had already been gone that morning for the Primary Program Practice, the day was hard. It had been a long week and I was doing my best to stay of top of things, but last night I had no more energy - I had done too much laundry and dishes to last a life time.

So, I sat and watched Ella Enchanted on TV (waste of time!) Shawn go home around 10:45pm, the kitchen was still a mess from dinner, toys needed to be picked up, the house just definately was NOT ready for Sunday. We ended up going to bed and not doing any of it (which I blame only myself). This morning, Shawn had to rush off to meetings and the house was still a mess, but I decided not to let it bother me. I watched Finding Faith in Christ with the girls, then they were being nice, so I jumped in the shower and started getting everyone ready - we were doing good. That is where it took a turn for the worse.

Ali started screaming, Andie was getting into everything and I thought - ok, here comes the typical struggle to get to church on time! I got Andie all changed and ready to go. Gave Ali some gas drops (that seemed to be her problem) and then a bottle and she was in the swing eating. Andie was ready, looked SO cute with pigtails and was eating chicken nuggets (we have church at 1:00pm) I still had 30 minutes before we needed to leave to be on time. I ran up stairs to finish getting ready and thought, "Where is my ring?" So, I started looking all around. Ali was done and crying, needing to be burped. I rush downstairs, now loading the bags, getting the carseat out, etc., etc. I get her settled again and someone stinks! ALI was the winner, and had a blow out. Ok, by this time we needed to be leaving to be on time.

So, I quickly go get her a change of clothes (mind you running up and down stairs MANY times) Get Ali all changed, still haven't found the ring and thought, "Let's say a prayer." So, we prayed, I went upstairs one more time to look and then was going to "make up time" on the drive. So, I did, spent another 5 mintues and finally found my ring on the tracks to my closet door. Andie must have gotten it when I was in the shower and was playing with it. When I got out, she was standing right where it was, so I am sure she was trying to hide that she had it! RELIEF - we foudn the ring. I rush back down, Ali had spit up ALL over the front of her and I thought, Oh well, let's go. I had to run back upstairs to get a burp rag. When I came down I got Andie to put her shoes on and what did I find? She was SOAKING wet, the whole front of her shirt and dress! Sopping!! So, I finally give in and say, ok we are definately going to be late.

I run yet again, back upstiars try to find her another dress but could find no white shirts to go underneath them. So, I go back down and decided to throw it in the dryer for a few minutes. Meantime, Ali was playing on the floor and Andie was laying down. This time it is 1:00pm and I decided, ok, we will make it to the 2nd hour. The dryer was done, I look and to my surprise, Andie fell asleep on the floor and Ali was needing to fall asleep.

So, here I sit, it is 1:30pm - church is 25 minutes away, both of my girls are asleep and desperately need the sleep and my house needs to be picked up! It is finally quiet and not so chaotic, I have calmed down and blame only myself for not getting to church today. I decided it is much better for me to take a deep breathe, calm down rather than go to church frustrated, angry and get nothing out of the lessons. The girls should sleep for a while, so I can study and read the lessons on my own and hope that the day will only get better.

Thanks for reading my long post. Short lesson learned: "Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday!" I think I need to go review those words. Also, I need tips of how to keep up energy and a positive attitude with a 5 month old and a 21 month old and with a husband who is rarely available. Hmm..."this too shall pass!" just not on my time table!

We are so blessed and it has helped to relieve my stress through letting you all read about it!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Age Counters

So, I created age counters for the girls, because Shawn saw them on someone's blog and liked it. He himself wanted one too. Unfortunately they didn't have a counter that could give his true age, but we are only 10 years off. You will have to scroll down and look at them on the side bar.

PS - When I showed Shawn his counter he said, "Oh, it's so cute, THANKS!"

Also Note: The sidebar to your right for those of you who doubted your status.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Ali's Tricks

I apologize in advance for the "wonderful" filming, but I just wanted to show off my little daughter at 5 months old! She has been rolling for a month, but scooting just this past week!

The first video is more rolling, but the second video at the end is exactly what I have been trying to capture!! Way to go Ali!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Helping Mom

I made Texas Sheet Cake the other night for our Elder's Quorum BBQ and after I was done with the frosting, I naturally got the beaters and started licking them. Andie looked at me confused, so I gave her one. In the picture above she was not sure she liked it.

Oh yeah, getting to the good stuff - IT WAS CHOCOLATE AND MY MOM GAVE ME MY VERY OWN!!
"You know you're not getting this back, right?"
Licking the lips - So cute and funny!
No wonder my mom likes to do this!!

Needless to say, it was a struggle getting it back, but it was fun to watch her eyes light up once she realized she was getting a treat! I know, probably not the best for a 20 month old - but hey, life is fun, right?

Gas Prices

For those of you who are interested. We had a "consumer panic" with the hurricane coming and gas prices went out of control. There was a limit of 10 gallons per customer at some gas stations. Here is the breakdown for the past 48 hours (of what I observed).

Friday 10:00am - $3.59
12:30pm - $3.99 (I topped off the tank)
6:30pm - $4.25
7:45pm - $4.35

Saturday 9:30am - $4.37
1:30pm - $4.24
9:00pm - $3.99

Nice huh! I think it is retarded - but oh well, what can I do.

Let's go on a walk...

This is funny, it looks like Ali is waving on purpose!
Andie getting mad that the stroller was harder to push in the house
Ali was just hanging out. She didn't mind that Andie loved pushing her around - she was out of the house, I think that is how all three of us felt!
I do enjoy that my girls are close in age, because I know they will be best friends growing up. It is amazing to see them interact now. Ali adores Andie and laughs at everything she does. Andie loved pushing Ali in the stroller, which I was not allowed to touch. When I tried to correct her path so she wouldn't go in the road, I got yelled at! It was funny!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Picture Time

The girls and I attempted pictures today.
Of course, neither of them smiled, but oh well. It was a fun adventure.Ali 5 months
Andie - 20 months
Cute Sisters

The one thing that bugs me about Sears is that they "discard" what they think is not cute and one choose a certain few to order from. When they showed me those, I said, "Oh, I don't like any of these, where are the cute ones?" The lady was kind enough to open the "discarded" folder and I ordered my pictures from there!! It would save them a lot of trouble to just show the parent ALL of the pictures. Who are they to say what is cute and what is not? Well, I take that back, they always choose the DUMB ones to show you.

Best of all - I am biased of course! - but I love their outfits! I got them at Macy's - Andie's was originally $40 and I got it for $8 and Ali's was originally $29 and I got it for $5!! Yep - I love a great bargain! (This is another reason I have postponed taking Ali's pictures - I have never found the right outfit! I am glad I found one!)

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Great People

I want to mention quickly two great people in my life. There are many more, but these two have been sensitive to the Spirit, and I appreciate it! I have been sick, throwing up all day yesterday and last night. I was able to call Shawn, he missed his class last night to come home and take care of the girls. He was then up with me all night and at 4:00 am when I asked him for a blessing, he was able and willing. Thank you Shawn, I love you and appreciate all that you do for me and our family.

This morning, my dear friend Joy called. She also knew I had not been feeling well and was calling to take Andie to the park! Such a simple offer, but a wonderful act of service in my behalf. Thank you Joy for being so kind and understanding! It was a great help!

Isn't it wonderful to have great people in your life? Who are you thankful for?

Saturday, September 6, 2008

A...N...D...I...E


If you do nothing else but watch this video - it will be great! I just had to show at 20 months old how smart my daughter is. Yes, we practice every day and each time she brings me her "color, color" we spell Andie. I am just glad we finally got it on video!

PS - My blog music comes on automatically but it has a pause button, so you can pause it and then you will be able to hear the videos that I post. (If you have had trouble in the past - some have asked)

Andie helping Dad

WOW - What a week!! For some reason, Labor Day didn't give us extra time this week, it just made a shorter week seem more hectic.

Andie is such a great helper - helping Shawn today put together a cabinet we got for the computer room. Once he pulled out the screw driver, she wouldn't let it go, so he came up with an alternative way (not sure what) and was able to continue putting it together with "her help" She was so focused on the task at hand...put the scredriver in a hole too small for it to fit. She spent all morning trying! It was great.

I had been asked to teach Institute on Friday because the teacher was going to be out of town. He asked me to teach from the tree of life through the rest of 1st Nephi. HA! The only time I found where I could actually concentrate on the lesson was the night before where I happened to stay up until 3:30am. Needless to say, it was a long night. Shawn took the girls while I taught and they went and got me flowers (he also brought the girls home, bathed them and picked up the house! Thanks Shawn!!!) They flowers are so pretty - funny because I had been thinking the day or to before, "It's too bad Shawn is not the type of guy to just show up with flowers on a random day!" Boy did he prove me wrong!


Andie ready for Institute. YES - she was in her pajamas, had her shoes on backwards, was wearing a hat too small for her head and wanted to take her "color, color" This is how we went - aren't I a great mom! It made me laugh!

Finally, a video of Andie being such a great big sister. Ali loves Andie, loves to play with her and LAUGHS anytime she has her attention. I had to catch this on video - hope you enjoy!

PS - Her video of eating rice cereal is too big so we are determining a different way to downsize it and post it. Any suggestions?

Go DAWGS (I miss the Cougars, and I'm not even a football fan!)


OK really - I don't get it. How can someone (meaning a whole town) be completely obsessed over something so stupid. Well, I guess it is not stupid, just not my thing. There is another football game today - CRAZY PEOPLE again. I must say, it is kinda cool living somewhere where everyone has a passion for the same thing, but really, it is a crazy passion. If you are not wearing red on game WEEKEND (starting Friday, maybe Thursday) then you get stared down!

Last Monday, I walked with my friends Joy and Sarah on campus and we walked right pass the stadium - really cool. Did you know it holds over 92,000 people? If we ever get visitors here in Georgia, this will be our main attraction.

It was interesting. The guys all wear Georgia red shirts, but it is tradition for girls to wear black sun dresses with red beads (looked cute, but not anything I would wear to a football game! Especially with the humidity!)




Note: Many satellites to watch TV before the party starts, during the party and after. Do you like the canopy's in the space between two parking rows? They are EVERYWHERE. No, that is not a real dog at a fire hydrant, just little statues someone had set up with all of their stuff - I couldn't get enough.

Also, many of these people would do well in Sunbeams. They have bean bags that they play like horse shoes. They set up two stands with holes and throw bean bags - Weird.

Mind you, these pictures were taken this morning around 9am, game doesn't start till 3:30, but you can start tailgating as early as 7am. I guess it reminds me of camping out for the 4th of July parade in Provo, which yes, many don't understand, but how can you not? Again, I just don't get it!

Needless to say, it was an adventure, a "quiet one" Joy said as of course once closer to game time, it would get a LOT worse and many more drunks! Yes, at 9am they were already downing their drinks. Interesting to say the least, and just say maybe 1/10 or better 1/100 part of campus!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Tag - I'm It....Again

Ok...Natalie because you are such a good friend, this one's for you!

6 Random things about me!

1 - I live in Georgia. j/k well, I'm not, but it seems random enough!

2 - I love to cook. I like to watch the Food Network Channel and then pretend like I am a professional chef and throw ingredients together. I experiment with different spices and just keep dumping until I like it. The other day I made a delicious fajita like skillet but I would never be able to recreate it. I was dumping different spices like paprika, cumin, nutmeg, garlic salt, etc. I like to throw a little nutmeg in things (Rachel Ray seems to put it in everything and says, "This is what makes people say 'What's that taste?') I guess I should start writing down my creations, but even then, I would never know an amount! Needless to say, I enjoy it!

3 - I like to observe people. You can learn so much from just watching how people interact (not in a creepy way of course) but I have always had the ability to know someone's personality just by observing them for a few moments. At lot of times (especially on my mission) I would watch someone on the street and instantly think, "At some point, they made the right choice, they are here, with a body and chose God's plan. I wonder how their childhood was, I wonder how their life will end up and what will happen to them in the end." It might sound weird, but I do always wonder.

4 - I love chocolate (honestly though, who doesn't?) My favorite cake, always has been and probably always will be is chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. The best I have EVER found thus far in my life is the Chocolate Cake from Costco! Delicious! (nice picture huh? That's what I could find)
4.5 - I think it is hard to think of 6 random things

5 - I am teaching Institute on Friday if anyone wants to come. I enjoy teaching, not because I think I have anything to offer that is motivational or inspiring, but rather because it helps me to really study and learn when other times I don't have the "motivation" to do so.

6 - Most of my thoughts are pretty random. I will give an example. I don't like it when someone is sad or has had a hard day. If the mood is negative, I will turn whatever is the problem into something light, make it a joke. I don't know if this is always the best solution but it is fun! Life should be fun, right?

The Rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write 6 random things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let the person know you tagged them on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when you've posted.

Sorry Friends but you are the Chosen 6 (well 7): Joy - Summer - Brooke - Jake & April - Shawn - Ashley - Katie

Frogs...Labor Day...First Timers

Here are last weekends events, and of course, today's as well. On Saturday night, we watched the Palmer girls (he is our new bishop and his birthday was on Sunday, so we offered to watch their 4 girls to give them a chance to get out!) Let me tell you, they were the funnest, most creative little girls. We had a blast!! (Well, I should speak for myself. I don't know how Shawn felt with 7 girls in the house! It was great!)

We went for a walk and they started catching frogs. We have a million jumping around all the time. The girls wanted a jar to put them in and I didn't have one. We took 2 plastic cups and made a little cage. Then they wanted to make a home for them. This is what we came up with. It was so fun to see their imagination at work! Thanks Amy, Amber, Mary and Megan - you girls can come over ANYTIME!!

Labor Day was uneventful. Shawn, which you all know, has little time on his hands, so what did he do on Monday? His day off to spend with the family?
YEP - He read TWILIGHT!! It was funny. He was getting so mad, "I thought Edward and Bella were supposed to be in Love, why is he being so rude to her?" "I don't get this..." I just said, "Keep reading, it will explain it all!" You see, the problem is, he has heard too much from all of us that have read and so is very confused that the author has to "set up" the story. I don't know when he'll ever get time to read again - but I thought it was funny that's what he chose to do with his time.
Andie and I on the other hand goofed off and had fun. I did get sucked into reading Edwards version of Twilight online, since Stephanie Meyer is not writing the book anymore - It was great! Go to stehaniemeyer.com for more!
Andie got to be our homeless version of a child on Monday. Don't worry, we have a stain stick for the shirt. That's what you get when your child refuses to wear a bib! Below is a video of her drinking from a cup without the lid. She thinks it's great. Every time I let her "practice" she takes a drink of whatever it is, even water, and says, "Mmmmmmmm!" It is hilarious.
WOW - What a mess maker! You will love the video of her drinking from the cup!

And then our little Ali. She has her 2 bottom teeth and is determined to grow up faster than I am wanting, but I will do what I can to please her. So, here is her video of enjoying Rice Cereal for the very first time. Sorry for all the talking/background noise. I think it is hilarious how she tries to eat. What a cutie!

(after an hour of trying to upload the video, I gave up. I will put it in a separate post!)

Well, Another long post - I'm sorry. I guess that's what you get for me taking so long to publish! Hope you all have a wonderful day/week!