Motherhood 101...

There are the things that we do every day as mothers that we know our children pick up on and emulate at the most inopportune moments, and then there are those things that seem so natural to them, that of course they are going to copy!
So here's Ash... her glow worm (yup Brooke, the one you gave her...) was hungry. Where else does a baby get food? A bottle? Naw... good old breast milk.
The other day I heard the girls talking while I was getting ready. I caught the end of whatever Lynn was saying: "... I am going to be a mom. What are you gonna be?"
Ash: "I am gong to be like mom like mom and play with kids all day and not go to work."
Lynn: "Yeah, me too."
So I guess I am starting them out right...

Flashback Friday...

Here's a flashback... 10 years ago... well, almost...Merrill bought his Civic.
I must admit that a Civic was my dream car. There was this family that I babysat for, the Jorgensens, they had a '93 Civic, I loved it. I thought it was so cute! My dream was to one day buy a Civic, two door though...
I remember the day that Merrill bought it. I was at Joe and Jackie's house with my fiance (bleh!) and Mer stopped by to show it off. I didn't go outside with them, I really wanted to though. I think Ryan was already a little curious about how I acted when Mer was near.
Merrill was so excited! I had never heard him talk so much or so excitedly. He'd always been pretty reserved and quiet.
Well, a couple of months later, I was riding shotgun in it constantly. I think that Clint and Austin weren't too fond of me, I kinda took their place. I do remember the three of them singing Amy Grant to me in the car one day...
Here we are, almost ten years later... the rad car, still going. We have never had a problem with it... knock on wood... I don't want to ever get rid of it. In fact, the other day I told Mer that Lynn will probably be learning how to drive manual in it in a few years...
It hasn't even hit 96,000 miles yet. It has taken us on our first date, many more, countless late night chit-chats, a good make-out spot, taken us to many a concert, on our honeymoon, to the hospital and back three times now, to Lake Powell twice, Dinosaur Land once, and countless camping trips all over the state and over the border. It has been always reliable, but somehow, always needs to be cleaned now days... even when we have just cleaned it. It's poor back seat has been spit up on way too much... It may not have power anything, but it does have a lot of get up and go (thanks to Austin's AEM power intake), and if it can survive me learning to drive a stick in it, I think it can survive anything! We have had miracles, like over 400 miles to a tank of gas on the way home from Powell miracles in it... yeah... it's a sweet ride.
Up until recently, we had a huge speaker box in the trunk. That made grocery shopping trips pretty interesting. We took it out when we were going camping an awful lot. I am a pro at packing that trunk... but I miss the booming.
We love it...
So what got me thinking about this? I had to get the safety and emissions done for the registration. 10 years worth of stickers will need to come off the license plate before the '09 sticker can go on...

A Good Nap!

Peyton has had some issues taking good naps and eating like I think she should the last few days... So thank heavens when Brooke loaned us "Ebbs" (Evan's) old jumper. Peyton loves it! She played for such a long time, was so happy the whole time and ended up falling asleep. Fun! Thanks Brooke! She is so generous to let us use anything that she has that Evan has used that is new and fun. She even offered her infant car seat just in case ours was too old to use. She's awesome!
More about the sleep and eat issue...
I don't think that anything is necessarily wrong, but just changing and I am not used to it... yet.
She used to eat about every four hours, nighttime not included, she sleeps through the night... but now, my boobs are huge and ready to spray at the slightest stimulation. Seriously. I try to force her to eat, because I am not hip to having the pump attached to my chest all day long. The girls stare at me too much for my comfort level.
She isn't taking naps as well as she was. Her morning nap isn't as long as it used to be and her afternoon nap isn't always as prompt in coming as it used to be either. She is happy as can be, so I try not to force anything. My daily pattern just needs some tweaking now.

This an' That... (Oatmeal Scotchies)

I did not get to play today... rainy days call for snuggling and a good movie, Lynn picked "Superman /returns"... Ash has a little crush on the "S" dude.
We did make these yummy cookies:Oatmeal Scotchies
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups old fashioned or quick oats
1 2/3 cup butterscotch chips

Cream butter, shortening and sugars together. Add vanilla and eggs. Mix well. In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients, except chips. Add this mixture to the wet mixture gradually. Mix in chips last. Bake in oven at 375 for 7-8 minutes for chewy cookies, 9-10 for crisp cookies. Let cool and enjoy!
And here's a couple of projects I did last week...

Peyton's Propeller...

When Peyton gets stuck in the bouncer, and no one is there to bounce it for her, she has found a way to bounce herself. We call it her "Propeller Leg"... and a few spit bubbles... enjoy!
*Warning: Now that I have gotten the video thing figured out, you might be seeing more of my kiddos! Hopefully it will be more entertaining and you will be able to tone out my annoying voice... (I will attempt to censor Ash...;)**

Summertime Rules and Regulations.

Here's to summer...
Last night, well night before last if you really wanna look at it that way... we had an FHE about our summertime rules. We went over lots of information with the girls. Everything from what bugs and spiders are good and we shouldn't run screaming from them, to which ones we should tell mom and dad about and not touch. Swimming rules. Staying in the yard rules. Stranger Danger. What to do if they get lost or separated from us. Chores. Keeping food in the kitchen. The one that I always hate to even bring up because it makes me feel so sad that this world isn't a safe place... good touching and bad touching. We have talked with them about it before, but...
There was an incident this last week in Orem with a mom and her little girl at a Wal-Mart. The mom left her little girl in the shopping cart to go around the corner and get an item. A stranger came up and touched her underneath her shorts. The girl told her mom, the mom saw the guy, and he knew that she had told on him and he ran. So we have to teach our children now, that even when they think that they are safe, it is possible that bad things can still happen. I don't want to teach my kids to fear everyone and every situation, but I think it is important to teach them what isn't acceptable and what they should do about it. I want them to know that I know what goes on and they should tell me if it were to happen.
So tonight we quizzed the girls at dinner.
Me: "Okay Ash, pretend like I am a stranger... 'Hi little girl. What's your name?'"
Ash: "Ashley!"
Mer: "Buzzz!"
Lynn: "She did it wrong! Let me do it!"
Me: "Now remember, I am a stranger...'Hi little girl. Your mom wants me to take you home. I have candy in my car, c'mon.'"
Lynn: "Nope. What's the password?"
Me: "Fartknocker?"
Ash: (giggle)
Lynn: "Nope!"
We have taught them that they can still be friendly, not grumps, but to keep their distance.
We also went to see the hotel. It has a second floor now! It is so amazing to see it is really happening. Every day, something new is going on down there. It's so cool to watch and to know that this is just another part of our future.
Kevin and Randee lost the baby... I feel so bad for him, since this is his first experience at fatherhood... I hope it happens for them soon.
Ally has gotten me in the mood to scrap. Since I am feeling better, but still don't have the energy back, I have been trying to get caught up on housework before I play. Today I was all set out to get all the floors done. I busted my butt to get everything in it's rightful place and clean up trash along the way, got all the vacuuming done and went to use my favorite tool (well, up until today...) the Swiffer. To my horror, it just wouldn't work. I replaced the batteries thinking that was the kink, nope, nothing. Now I do have to say that Ashley has a little kindergarten crush on the Swiffer. She has Swiffer radar and knows when the cleaning closet is open and goes to the Swiffer and presses the button just to hear the sound it makes. I keep the cleaner separate, because I have learned that she likes to do that. So I thought that she wore out the batteries. Apparently it is something far, far worse... my floors aren't as clean as I had hoped they would be.
But I do plan to play tomorrow!
We spent part of the evening at Lagoon... three year old metldowns as we leave the park and five year olds falling off of retaining walls... might just keep us away for a little while. Peyton was the best behaved.
As the girls were going to bed, we had to explain the science of shadows to Ashley. She thinks that they will hurt her. That was interesting. She just couldn't seem to stay in bed after that. She got up to go to the bathroom, again. To get a drink, and then to tell us, "Goodnight, don't let the big bugs bite." And finally, she brought in her blanket to me and asked if I would "decorate it on her". I have no idea how she came up with that word for spread it out... so I "decorated" her, and they were out. And now my post is done, and so is my float!

I feel like dog poo...

I woke up this morning feeling like poo. Poo that has been sitting in the hot sun, then stepped in, then smeared on the ground. Yup, that bad.
I started feeling it last night, but didn't think much of it. We enjoyed an evening at Lagoon, the first of many this summer... Peyton and I walked a lot while Mer took the girls on rides. Ash is too much of a chicken to go on anything by herself. This three child thing is difficult at the moment. We got home, and I felt kinda started to feel bad then.
But this morning...
I woke up and felt really bad (that's where the smeared part comes in...) my head hurt, my throat hurt, my right ear (yes, that specific) hurt... I felt dizzy when I got up. I was pretty much useless. To make matters funner... Lynn came and told me that her "mouth hurt". After further investigation, I discovered what she really meant was that her throat hurt. Peyton wasn't happy unless she was drugged-up too, there's no her-telling-me what is bothering her... more rounds of Tylenol on mom!
Sickness!!!
Bleh!
I did manage to get a good nap in today, the girls were cooperative. The best cure for feeling like poo is to stay in bed with the sweetest baby ever, nurse and sleep, a lot.
Mer did church solo (thanks Christie my conductor replacement extraordinaire and others for holding down the Primary front...). I am feeling better now, but still not 100%.
Here's to lots of water and Tylenol!
Ashley was pretending to be a kitten today, I caught her licking Peyton's face...
Now how on earth could we be getting sick???