I finally have a pantry...

granted my pantry is located in my garage, but I'll take it! From the time John and I got married I have always had to deal with storage issues, particularly with food. I swore that when we got a house I would buy one with a large pantry to solve all of my food storage issues. Well, that sure didn't happen since my pantry is the size of a big cupboard. So this weekend John put together my "outdoor pantry." For the first time ever I have room to spare. I even put my massive amounts of food storage in my new pantry, and there's still room to spare! I love that I've been to Costco, and to the grocery store, and all of my families food is enclosed in some sort of cupboard...Awesome!

Pumpkin Patch

Today Owen and I joined Ainsley on her school's field trip to the pumpkin patch. It started out a little rough. I forgot my camera, our ride woke up late and so therefore I was waiting and late, and then when we got there Owen threw up on me as soon as I took him out of the car. Twice. Thank heavens he didn't throw up in the car! (I honestly think he was car sick). So after we got that cleaned up with wet wipes ,and there was only a hint of nasty throw up smell on us we were off!

It turned out to be a fun morning. We got to go on a hayride through all of the pumpkin fields. Then the kids got to go and color a pumpkin picture. We then ventured out into the field to pick our own pumpkin. By this point my arms were burning from lugging Owen around. We found our pumpkins, and them my arms really started to burn due to the added weight. Then all of the little preschoolers got to go into a maze made from bales of hay (a hay bale maze?). It was really cute to see all of their little heads bouncing above the bales of hay. I think Ainsley figured out the maze and then went through it a good three or four more times. Then they passed out a snack for all of the kids. It was a lot of fun. Since I forgot to bring my camera I got a picture of the kids by their pumpkins when we got home. I wonder if Owen's little foot is curled because the ground was freezing???

****I forgot a funny story. A friend that I went to high school with (Carol Mortensen (Stringham) has a little boy in Ainsley's class. She told me today that the other day in his prayers Dallin prayed for Ainsley. I'm not sure in what context. He could have been thankful for her, or just glad that she's alive, either way I thought it was cute!

Some thoughts.....

From the time that John and I were married we have never lived in a ward where I felt comfortable and at home. Our first ward in Provo was completely weird. There were lots of crazy newlyweds and the "real" members of the ward were really into this one "leader" family. There were like 10 kids in this family and their views were completely messed up in my opinion. One of the sons was our home teacher. When he couldn't make it one month he sent his father in his place. At first we were glad because on his previous visit we had a LECTURE for over and hour and were asked to bear our testimonies at the end of the lecture. It was all strange and awkward....and boring! I was very disappointed when his fathers visit was more annoying because he lectured ME, yep, just me, and informed me that if my family wasn't having family prayer and family home evening then this was completely my fault. Apparently he felt that what happened in a home didn't depend on a father and a mother, just the mother! I'm not sure that I would have let him back in my home after that first meeting.

On to ward number two. Our ward in Salt Lake was better in the fact that it was somewhat normal. And when I say normal I mean completely abnormal. We lived in an apartment complex that was annexed into a ward with some FILTHY rich people. Carl Malone lived in the neighborhood that was apart of our ward. Now, most of the people in this ward were very friendly and John loved that the lessons were more intellectual. But I dreaded going to RS because I knew I would most likely sit by myself. I was on the enrichment committee and I left one enrichment activity in tears. At another enrichment activity I had a woman mad at me because I hadn't cut the carrots I brought to the activity cut julienne (I didn't even know what that meant at the time), and because at one point during the evening I sat down with a couple of "apartment girls" to talk instead of serving food. After that I think I carried a complex with me for a while. I was always nervous to go to enrichment or any ward activity and I always worried that I wouldn't have anyone to talk to.

Ward number three. This was the ward we went to for a few months while we lived with John's parents. No one ever did anything in that ward to make me feel uncomfortable, they just didn't do much to make me feel welcome. We were viewed as temporary and treated accordingly. There actually were 2 girls in that ward that did reach out and try to include me, but that's hard to do when you know someone will be leaving soon.

And onto ward number four. This was the ward we lived in when we first moved into our apartment here. And I really can't complain about this ward. I felt welcome and needed but I think this time I had the attitude that this was only temporary. We were looking for a house and ready to get out of there. We lived by 3 other families in our complex that were in the same situation as us and we just kind of stuck together and had our short term friendships while they lasted. So I guess I felt comfortable in this ward I just never felt at home.

And that brings us up to our current ward. Where I finally feel at HOME! It has taken about a year (which I think can be expected when anyone moves to a new ward) to get to know people, feel comfortable, feel like we have friends, and know enough people that if someone mentions a name I know who they are talking about. I love that I finally feel settled. I'm not nervous to go to enrichment. There are people I would feel comfortable calling if I needed a favor or a babysitter. We have a social life with the people we go to church with and I love it.

Now, this might be a little crazy, but all of this thinking was brought about last night after we went on a group date with some people in our ward. We went with 2 other couples to dinner and then met up with some more people at a comedy club here. The comedy was awful (clean but a little painful to watch) but the company was great so it was still a lot of fun. So it might be weird that a night out brought these thoughts to my mind, but I had spent most of my day doing one thing or another with people from my ward so I guess they were on my mind. And I'm really grateful that I finally have a true ward family for my family.

Binky Update

Owen has gone for 3 days now without a binky. Well, I guess I should say he's been almost binky free because one night he walked out of his room with a binky in his mouth and 2 in his hands (our guess is that they were hidden discreetly under his crib). John was good though and took them away. Owen was very sad but soon got over it after a little distraction. Owen has actually been happier during the days, goes to sleep at night just fine, but naps are still a struggle. He doesn't scream like he did the first day when I put him down, he just plays and then moans and yells and gets very little sleep. Maybe I should take this opportunity to take him down to one nap a day as well? Then we only notice the loss of the binky once a day. Good idea? No?

What have I done???

I'm feeling pretty bad for Ainlsey right now. Which is funny because she isn't feeling bad for herself. I'm just feeling guilty for putting her in a bad situation. So here's what I did....

One Sunday at the beginning of September I was talking with a mom in my ward who has a daughter Ainsley's age, we'll calle her B. Ainlsey and B had played together a little bit and they seemed like cute little friends. We even went to the water park with them over the summer. I got a glimpse of B's personality that day at the park but thought that overall she was still a sweet girl. During this conversation with B's mother we started talking about preschool and by the next day B had signed up to be in Ainsley's class. I thought this was great because now Ains had a friend at school and we had someone to carpool with!

After spending some time in the car with these two I realized that things weren't going so great for Ains. B would argue with her for arguments sake. For example when Ainsley announced to B that we were going to ride in her car for a field trip (which we were) B's immediate reply was, "No you're not! My mom said you couldn't!" I later heard from Ainsley that B was calling her names like "whiner baby" and telling her that her pictures she was coloring in preschool were ugly. B is also in Ainlsey's dance class and during dance B won't let Ainsley play or stand by her other friend Kiley. At ward parties B is always sure to find a friend and then "uninvite" Ainsley to play with them. I have watched these little social interactions and am pretty sure that these little girls would rather play with Ainsley, they just do what they're told out of fear.

Now I know Ainsley isn't perfect and has plenty of flaws, but I have never seen her be deliberately mean or say cruel things to another person. I feel awful about this situation because I put Ainsley in it. If I hadn't told this mother about preschool then they wouldn't even be in the same dance class. And now I don't know what to do. I've tried to talk to Ainsley about what makes a good friend and that if someone is saying mean things to you then it's okay to not play with that person and to go find new friends. I'm just not sure it's soaking in. Ains is such an upbeat little kid that these put downs don't seem to be bothering her too much....yet. I just don't think that at the age of three you should have to be told that you are a whiner, can't color pretty, and that you can't play with your friends. I'm not sure what else to do. So what do you think? Am I over reacting, is this just a part of life? Do I step in and do something? I'm welcome to all suggestions at this point!

The end of and era???

Last night as we laid Owen down for bed we realized that we couldn't find any pacifiers. He laid in bed fussy for a minute while we searched and then he eventually fell asleep. We never found a pacifier. I guess that's because Owen is at the age where he likes to carry around several pacifiers and stash them in random places that for some reason make sense to him but make it virtually impossible for anyone to find them later. I know for a fact that there are currently 4 pacifiers hid in random nooks and crannies throughout the house.

This is very unfortunate for Owen. He didn't understand that going to sleep without a pacifier, in combination with hiding all remaining pacifiers, gave mom and dad the thumbs up for weaning from the binky. It has been a sad day for Owen. He is currently crying in his crib waiting for a pacifier that isn't coming. The fact that I don't have any to give him makes it easier not to cave. I'm wishing I would have gotten rid of them when he turned one. He wasn't nearly as addicted to them then as he is now. So as for now, Owen will probably have a rough couple of days. I refuse to give in though, why bother starting something if you're not going to finish? And he's only a few weeks younger than Ainsley was when her pacifier habit was licked. I'm just hoping he doesn't come across the lost pacifiers before I do!

Fun Saturday!

We had a really fun day on Saturday. It was Karalenn's birthday and since she was in town we went with her family and friends to Harnival. What is Harnival? It's a party invented by Ainsley's nursery teacher that's a harvest celebration and a carnival. He did it as a party for his business, and since his company fixed our computer a while ago we were invited. It was a lot of fun. There was a DJ, face painting, cotton candy, lunch, balloon animals, a kids jump house, hay rides, popcorn, farm animals, and a few vendors with other games for the kids. We all had a lot of fun! Thanks to Karalenn and her family there was a lot of dancing going on and Ains got to learn the chicken dance too.

After Harnival we came home for a rest and then headed off to our ward's elders quorum party. I didn't take the camera but I wish I would have to get a picture of John playing flag football! The guys looked like they had a lot of fun playing, although it didn't get too intense because they let a few younger kids play too. We had a lot of fun hanging out with people and Ainsley had so much fun playing with her friends that there were more than a few tears shed when it was time to leave (and we were even one of the last to leave so there weren't that many friends left). It was so fun to see her at an age where she could run and play with kids on her own. That left Owen with me who's favorite spot was the drinking fountain...ew! I'm still hoping he hasn't contracted some weird disease. Fun day though!

Ains with her ladybug on a flower.
Not sure what dance Karalenn and Sunny are doing but looks like fun eh?!?

Ainsley's lovely lady bug....well worth the LONG wait!
Owen and his beloved rock!I made him trade in the rock for a puppy balloon, although the puppy was gone by the time we got home.