Serves me right!

Today I caught Emmie 'mid-poop' and decided to try to get her to sit on the toilet. I decided this despite her absolute fear of and refusal to have anything to do with the toilet. So I took her into the bathroom and was trying to trap her in there while also trying to dig out our little toilet training seat that was in the bathroom cupboard.

What happened next took me a bit by surprise. I somehow unhooked a pipe/tube thing (forgive my lack of proper plumbing terminology) water started spraying everywhere!!! I was getting soaking wet, as was the floor, and everything under the sink. It took me a few seconds to get my bearings, pull everything out from under the sink, and figure out how to get the water shut off. It was insane! There was A LOT of water EVERYWHERE!!! Way more water than one would expect would end up on the floor after a few seconds of gushing water.

And so instead of convincing Emmie to sit on the toilet........I got to clean up this.

In case you were wondering it was that little plastic tube thingy......All in the name of potty training (or lack thereof)!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our day included....

John getting a guilty verdict. (Way to go John!)

The entire family being at the school nearly all day. Seriously, it was hours. Too. Many. Hours. But it was fun :)

Heart shaped pancakes and peanut butter sandwiches.

Chocolate.

Cookies.

Spaghetti and meatballs.

Brownies.

Candy.

A new shower head. (Heaven!)

The best Valentine's I've ever received plastered on the bathroom mirror.

(They said things like..........."There's no one else I'd rather spend this annual obligation with." "I could watch TV with you forever." "The GOP settling for Romney is a great reminder to thanks you or settling for me." (Not that either of us don't support Romney, we do, but it's still funny :) "I'm glad you recognize how terrible your life would be without me." Some people like the mushy stuff, I've learned over the years that I'm not a romantic. I'm glad John knows that these are way more my style, because it was a great laugh for the morning!

And the kids got gifts too. Gifts that fit their interests right now perfectly. Ains got new earrings. Emmie got play-doh. And Owen got a ream of paper. Now he can use all the paper he wants with out us getting mad at him. How sad that we have limited his paper usage, but it was really out of control! He makes paper airplanes and origami like no one I've ever seen. Seriously. He just folds and folds and then throws them on the floor and starts another. I'm starting to think he might have some sort of OCD. Maybe? But now he can fold in peace.

It was a good day!

Ainsley's Baptism

I'm finally getting pictures posted of Ainsley's baptism! She was baptized last Saturday, February 4th. And it really was a fabulous day. After the "unnecessary" things had been taken care of, like the dress, the shoes, the sweater, the headband, the white underwear, (You know, all the fluff. Although I think Ainsley enjoyed the countless hours we spent shopping, you don't know how hard it is to find reasonably priced white attire in January!) we were able to have a nice and relatively calm day.

Ainsley looked beautiful and so big. It was kind of surreal. I think John and Ainsley enjoyed the day the most. They were able to have time to themselves and enjoy the spirit. I was a little bit more flustered worrying about other children. John however was more choked up than I have ever seen him. Ever. It was very touching.
I think I was most touched when John was confirming her and said that the world was lacking in kindness, and this is something that Ainsley can bring to the world. She truly is kind and has developed compassion for others at such a young age. She is so special! She has been so excited about fasting and the meaning of baptism for quite a while now. I love that she took the time to understand the covenants she was going to be making. I don't know many 8 year olds that give that much thought without their parents prompting. She was able to have both of her grandpa's be witnesses. They participated in her confirmation as well, along with her uncles Dan, and Dan, and Cy. It was so nice to have family there to participate and share the moment with us. It really was a day that Ainsley will never forget.

And just for good measure, to finish off the night, we had awesome food and a dance party. We are pretty awesome dancers. Although I think I'm the best. :)

No Words................

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to the most amazing 8 year old I know!

And now to brag a bit about my amazing daughter......

She's definitely the peacemaker in our home and wise for her age. I suspect that just because of her personality she will have endless opportunities at her fingertips throughout her life. She will also be an excellent mother, because she is already a better mother than I am. She is a genius at school. Literally. She's in a 2/3 combo class and when the kids scores on various things are graphed, she's not only the top of the class, she's leaps and bounds above the entire class. She has a deep understanding of the gospel for an 8 year old and takes it all very seriously. She is always trying to better herself (case in point her new years resolutions). She takes time to memorize scriptures and seeks out deeper meaning from scripture stories. Sometimes I watch her in amazement. I'm honored to be her mother.

We celebrated the beginning of her 8th year of life with some pretty cool things. She lucked out and got the day off of school for teacher in-service. So she got to sleep in and the we headed off to Claire's as soon as they opened so she could get her ears pierced. Ains was possibly the toughest ear pierce-ee ever. She barely flinched. She had been looking forward to it for years. And she spent the rest of the day running in the bathroom to look at her ears.
We spent the afternoon at home and she got to help make her birthday cake. When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted this year she was a little stumped. I think this is because she doesn't really like cake. So I pointed out that she could maybe choose an ice cream cake. Because she loves ice cream. We found a recipe for a banana split cake, adjusted it to our liking, and made the most awesome and yummy cake. (If you like ice cream.)

We spent the evening at Red Robin with Kortney and her girls. Ains chose Red Robin because they sing to you and you get ice cream. She looked thrilled when there was suddenly a crowd surrounding our table singing for her. And she ate the entire ice cream sundae all by herself. Then we came back to our house for presents, cake, and a movie.
Her gifts were very much centered on her up-coming baptism. Scriptures, baptism dress, and such. She just seems so old. We had a late night party watching Dolphin Tail and I'm pretty sure she went to be happy last night. After she looked at her earrings one last time.

We love you Ainsley!

Over-compensation

Sometimes I get a little tired of being home. Especially during the winter when we are all cooped up inside, which means the kids are all at each other's throats.

Last weekend was particularly bad. The kids felt well enough, but all had the cough from, well, you know where. We couldn't leave the house because of the nasty coughing, I went to church alone, they missed a day of school, and yet we had none of the benefits of being home with sick kids. Kids that are lethargic and ill you feel sorry for, kids that are full of energy while ill...not so much. Needless to say we (maybe I shouldn't speak for the rest of my family so I'll say I) barely survived last weekend.

I knew a 3 day weekend was coming and so in order to ensure we avoided having a minute of boredom(fighting), I planned my little heart out. We were able to do the following, (Even though Ains woke up puking Friday night. Bad mom? Possibly. But there was no way I was staying home with sick kids again.)

• went swimming (courtesy of free swimming at my gym :)
• ordered pizza (courtesy of John's employer)
• played at friends houses
• had friends at our house
• made pizza (courtesy of John's culinary skills)
• played laser tag (courtesy of gift certificates the kids earned at school :)
• ate left-over pizza (courtesy of mom's culinary skills)
• went birthday shopping
• went baptism dress shopping
• Ains had a birthday dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Welch
• I worked
• John worked
• Owen and John weren't sick of pizza so they went to Costco for more pizza (courtesy of Owen and John's iron stomachs with the ability to comsume incredible ammounts of pizza)

It was a fun, pizza filled weekend. And I didn't feel like strangling my children at the end of it.

And I also took 3 kids to stake conference by myself. I'm pretty sure I get an award for that. I'm waiting for it to arrive in the mail.

Goals for 2012

On New Year's Eve we were eating dinner and started talking about new year's resolutions. Everyone in the family came up with a few. Ainsley (being the go-getter that she is) wrote hers down on a sticky note and put it on her bathroom mirror. Her goals are to 1) use less electronics 2) be more independent and 3) be more positive. John and I may or may not have suggested goal #2. And I would have to say that Ains has worked on her goals more than anyone else!
Owen's goal is to exercise more. I think the kids learned about that at school because they are both a little obsessed about what is exercise and what isn't. His exercising usually involves running and jumping on the couch or diving off the couch or doing some other weird movement. Since Owen is smart, he will also use his commitment to his goals as an excuse to get out of work. It's very convenient to declare a sudden workout when asked to clean your room.

Emmie has developed an aversion to her bed. So we will declare her goal....learn to sleep in your own bed. Occasionally she'll start out in her bed, but sometimes she insists on sleeping on the floor, or in her tent. She wakes up crying most nights and ends up in our bed since we have a desire to keep the two children that ARE sleeping, asleep. I don't know if I can say that she's been working diligently on her goal.
I think we also might have to add to her list, quit being afraid of the dark and the toilet. She sleeps with a nightlight AND a hall light on and even complains about the dark if' we're driving at night. This has been a first for me. And I'm convinced that Emmie will be my child who will wear diapers to kindergarten. If I even mention the toilet she gets mad. And lately if someone leaves the lid up she stands in the bathroom and says, "Scawy." Just what every mother of a 2 year old loves to hear!

Among other things, John and I are going to hone our parenting skills. We've finally admitted that we have no idea what we're doing and could use some help. I've been to a love and logic class in the past and liked what it taught. And since my children are far from perfect, and many times I just want to throw my hands in the air and give up....we bought this book. That will hopefully give us some practical strategies for dealing with our difficult moments. (I wish I would have bought the book for kids 0-6 when Ainsley was born...that would have been smart.)