A vacation of firsts

On Thursday the kids and I joined my parents on a drive through northern Arizona to see some forests and mountain scenery. Thursday we drove to Prescott (Bree loved picking out a snack from a vending machine at one of the rest stops). We checked into our hotel, and Bree was so intrigued by the idea of sleeping there and sharing a big bed with Mommy. She has stayed at a hotel before, but she was just a baby. We swam in the indoor pool, which the kids loved. Bree is still too wary of the deep end even to let Papa hold her while he swam around, but Mason was fearless. Then we went to Golden Corral for dinner. Despite the wide range of buffet options, Bree ended up with a corn muffin, a slice of pizza, and a chocolate cupcake. Mason out-ate her, as usual, despite his stick-like physique. After dinner we took the kids to the movie theater for their first time to see Up. They were both enthralled when the movie started on that huge screen. Mason got bored after a while, so I spent some time in the arcade with him, since I'd seen the movie before. We had a comfortable night's sleep (that was the nicest Holiday Inn Express I've ever been to!), with the exception of Bree hogging the bed a little.

We hit the road in the morning, and drove to an area near Seligman for some hiking. The weather was nice--not too warm, and it was quite an adventure for the kids climbing on those big rocks. Bree is actually a decent hiker, but Mason got a little frustrated trying to walk on that rocky ground. Both of them really enjoyed being outside, and the views were gorgeous. I'm not sure where Bree got the supermodel side hip thrust pose...I just told her to smile.

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On the way back home we stopped in Williams, Strawberry, Payson, and Apache Junction (we missed our turn-off and ended up going the long way). The kids were a lot more antsy during the second day on the road, but still did admirably well for so much time in the car. Grandma entertained them with some fairy tales during the last stretch. Thanks Mom and Dad, for a fun little vacation!

Little issues

Here's how Bree dressed herself yesterday. It was a real chore to convince her that the black tights are only for church, and they're really only to wear in the winter time.

Chad went to work today. We've spent the past week worrying that he'd be forced to take an upaid 10-day furlough starting today because of state budget issues. The budget was supposed to be approved by midnight last night, but apparently there has been some sort of extension on the deadline, and in the meantime everyone in the public safety division gets to keep working for now. Chances are good that even when the budget gets passed, it will include a 5% decrease, causing cutbacks which will mean 10-day furloughs for everyone anyway. It is SO frustrating to be waiting like this! I am so mad at the legislature for putting this off until the last minute.

So, we don't know if we'll be able to go to Chad's sister Rachels' wedding next weekend. We can't make any plans. And those tickets for Wicked on the 18th...well, Chad might not be able to use his. Oh well. At least he has a job, and we are incredibly thankful for that.

I love Nursery!

Last Sunday was my first time in Nursery as a leader, and I helped the other two leaders (a young couple just married this January) as they headed up the activities. We have a pretty decent sized nursery for being a small ward, plus we have visitors a lot, especially during the summer (decent sized = 6-10 kids). I really feel for the other leaders; I remember Chad and I in Nursery as newlyweds feeling inadequate in our toddler-wrangling skills. So I'm much more comfortable in this calling this time around, now that wrangling toddlers is my life.

I volunteered to do the lesson for this Sunday. I know that they've been trying to incorporate the lessons, but it's hard to get through to 18-month-olds. But I think it's really important to get Bree and the older kids used to sitting down for a lesson, since they'll be in Sunbeams in 6 months. We may even use the divider curtain during lesson time, to give the "Senior Nursery" kids a chance to really learn. Anyway, in preparation for today's lesson, I went through it last Monday for Family Home Evening. The topic was "The Book of Mormon Teaches us about Jesus Christ." (I love the new Nursery manual, and bought one for our home as soon as is came out. It is soooo much better for nursery aged kids than the Primary 1 book we used previously.) I taught the kids (mostly Bree) a few simple stories about Jesus that we learn from the Book of Mormon. Then we learned the chorus to "Search, Ponder, and Pray" and sang it a few times. It probably didn't even take five minutes for the whole lesson, which is exactly how they're designed.

So today, I only had 5 kids: two 3-year-olds and three between 17-20 months. Since I was on my own (the other leaders skipped out today), I taught them all together as they were finishing up their snack. Bree remembered details from some of the stories, and sang along as we learned the song again. But the highlight of my day came this evening when Bree asked, "Mommy, will you read me the Book of Mormon?" Normally I'm lazy, and I say, "Maybe later" when I get requests when I'm busy. But I was so touched and excited, we got out the Book of Mormon Stories picture book and read the first few stories. Then as I was fixing dinner, I heard Bree singing as she played; "Search, ponder and pray are the things I can do." I love Nursery.

Have I joined the old lady crowd?

A few weeks ago I was looking at my friend Joanna's Lion Brand Yarn catalog thinking: these knitted sweaters, scarves, and hats are adorable! I have a fetish for knitted winter-wear, even though Arizona weather doesn't afford much opportunity for actually wearing it. Anyway, I decided right then that I would learn how to knit (I know how to crochet, but it's not the same). So I bought a starter kit, including an instruction book. Well, learning to knit from a book proved impossible, and I was about to despair until I remembered that you can find any kind of video imaginable on the web. So I found a series of instructional knitting videos on You Tube, and I was soon knitting and purling away. For my first project, I made myself a scarf with a double ribbing pattern (cotton yarn of course), and I love it! Now I'm attempting a hat, which is a little more difficult since I'm knitting in "the round" with 4 double-pointed needles. Obviously I have to be really careful not to leave my work lying around, since the kids are fascinated with it, and a knitting project can quickly be reduced to nothing. My goal is to have a sweater by Christmas. Well, maybe just a baby one.

Look what I found!

Last night we had the missionaries over for dinner (something which Chad is totally against; he doesn't think the elders need to be fed every single evening of their entire missions...go figure). I made Orange Chicken, which is probably in my top five favorite recipes. Anyway, later that evening I found this little sticky note on the bathroom mirror. Chad thought it was totally nerdy, but I, for one, really appreciated it. Even though they get fed dinner every night, they should still make an effort to show appreciation (which not all elders do equally well.) I thought it was cute.

When it was time for bed, I pulled back my covers to reveal this:
One of the kids' favorite activities is to play on our bed, and apparently someone had pulled back the comforter, spilled their animal crackers onto the sheet, and carefully replaced the comforter, without disturbing the pillows. I'm guessing that Bree was the mastermind behind this little prank.

New Header

Thank you so much Jaime for designing a header for my blog! I love it!

New Calling!

I was pretty nervous about my meeting last night. I was worried they might call me to the primary presidency, which is being reorganized. Well, they did call me to the primary...as a Nursery leader! This is one calling that I used to say I never wanted again. But in our ward what they try to do is have a group of nursery teachers that can take turns teaching. That way people can go to their adult classes sometimes, and when they have to go out of town, they're automatically covered. So I'm super excited to have a "Sunday" calling, especially one that's not even every Sunday! I'm congratulating myself on my good fortune, and I'm excited to start.

On a side note, poor Bree has Strep throat again. Luckily the doctor fit her in yesterday, and we've got her on antibiotics. I'm hoping this pattern doesn't continue all her life--this is her third case of Strep in her short 3-year-old life. I think she's doing a little better today, thank goodness.