Conference Stations

Every year I feel like conference is somewhat of a negative experience for our family. I always try to find something to keep the girls busy but it always seems to turn into a big disaster where the girls are in constant need our attention and Josh and I get nothing out of the talks. While attempting to prepare for conference this year, I came across an idea one lady had that I fell in love with. She had her kids help set up stations for conference and one of the stations was always taking notes with Mom and Dad. During conference the kids would work quietly and switch stations with each new talk. I decided to give it a try and feel like it was our biggest success in a long time. The girls each got to decide what they wanted to do for one station and I got it ready. Then Josh and I came up with the remaining stations. We also had two different sets of stations so that we could alternate activities between sessions. I loved it because each girl had to work on something on their own. It seemed to eliminate the competing, collaborating, and fighting for supplies that we normally have. We walked through the stations before each session so that the girls knew what they were doing without needing help. Then I helped whoever was at the note taking station while listening to conference. The girls liked it as much as I did. I think that means it was a success.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The girls woke up to a surprise from a Leprechaun. They had golden coin and golden cereal as well as green milk, mind game puzzles and green stemmed roses.

And since the girls have to wear uniforms to school, we had to be creative to get green on them. We painted their nails green and added some green strips of hair.

Talk Time

About a year and a half ago, I was having a very tough time as a mother. I felt like I was so busy doing the day to day things that I didn't have time for my girls.  There were many days when I realized I had gone the entire day without even making eye contact with my children. I didn't know what to do about it until I received the prompting to spend time talking with them one on one. I thought it was crazy at first but eventually worked out a way to do it. Now it's a tradition that both the girls and I look forward to. Once a week at the end of the night, all the girls get some quiet reading time while I take one girl into my bedroom at a time and talk with them for about ten minutes. We get comfy on my bed and they tell me whatever they want. Emma and I always read a book and sing several songs while she runs circles. We go through her ABC's and numbers and practice spelling her name out loud. And we always finish up with Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam while she jumps on my bed. Ashlyn likes to tell me what she learned at preschool and her favorite part of the day. I love that her face lights up as she talks with me. She also likes to have me read her a book and we practice her ABC's and numbers. I also make sure she knows her full name, her date of birth and how old she is. Then we finish up with Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam while jumping on the bed just like Emma. Sadie and I talk about whatever but she usually likes to focus on what she did at school or at dance. She's funny too because she loves to be goofy and is constantly moving while talking with me. She's either bending her body and head in crazy positions or she's rolling around or crawling deep under the covers. She always feels like her time ends too quickly, as do I. Kali also talks about whatever but often focuses on the books she reading or her friends. She's growing up so quickly and we already talk about boys and about girl problems. I can tell the time I spend with her makes her feel so good. I'm so grateful to have been given the prompting to do this because it has changed my relationship with my girls. I feel like they know they can talk with me about anything and that is so important to me.

Gymnastics Runner

Kali was invited to be a runner at the University of Utah's gymnastics meet against Oregon State. A runner sits down on the floor with the judges and when the scores are given, they put them up on the signs and rotate them around for everyone to see. It was such a cool experience for her to be so close to the gymnasts.

When we first arrived at the Huntsman Center to watch the meet, we ran into Swoop. Emma was terrified and didn't want to get anywhere near him.

The meet was a little long for the girls, but they got a few things for free from spinning a Ford advertisment wheel (scarves, bags, chapstick) that kept them entertained.

And when the meet was over, Kali got to go around to all the gymnasts and have them sign a poster for her. It was a pretty cool experience.

Valentine's Day

We had such a wonderful Valentine's Day this year. As always, Josh and I left a special present on the doorstep for the girls...

...journals. And the girls were so excited. Josh recently did a family home evening lesson on journal writing and ever since then the girls have wanted their own. They were the perfect gift. Then Josh only worked half a day so that he and I could go out to eat at Red Robin (surprise, surprise). Afterward we went to see Frozen, finally. Our girls have been dying to tell us about the movie but we kept telling them that they had to wait until we watched it. It was such a cute movie and turned out to be a wonderful date.

Earlier in the week, we spent an evening as a family making hearts to "heart attack" grandmas and grandpas on Valentine's Day. The girls loved getting creative and made some really cute hearts.

But I think they loved surprising their grandparents with them on Valentine's Day even more. It turned out to be super fun!

And last but not least, the girls gave us a Valentine's Day gift, a beautiful performance of singing and dancing. They even provided us with a play/pause wand so that we could stop them anytime during the performance. It came in very handy for taking this picture. We love our girls.

Gymnastics Meet

We went to a University of Utah gymnastics meet tonight and had a fun time. Kali gets to be a helper with the scoring during a meet next month so her coach wanted her to come watch a meet to get a feel for what she'll have to do. Unfortunately we were so high up that Kali was having trouble seeing, but it was still fun to go.

Emma had a blast because she spent the entire time walking along the seats. Sadie, on the other hand, was bored out of her mind. She didn't like the fact that she had to just sit there. She wanted to be down on the floor. She was, however, infatuated with the U sign. She wanted to know why everyone kept holding their hands in that position and decided to give it a try. Josh was pretty horrified to see what she was doing. What did he expect when we were at a University of Utah meet?!

And for some reason we always luck out at sporting events and end up near the mascot. The U's red-tailed hawk, Swoop, came up and gave the girls a high five. They were pretty stoked.

Sledding

The girls have been dying to go sledding and we finally got our chance. Unfortunately, Kali took Ashlyn out on her first run down the hill so there were a lot of tears and some pouting, but eventually everyone ended up having fun.

Christmas PJs

My girls have been obsessed with sleeper pajamas ever since Kali bought a pair last year. So guess what kind of pajamas they got to open up on Christmas Eve....sleepers!

Santa

Oh boy did we luck out with Santa this year. I happend to walk into Harmons on a Saturday morning (which I rarely do) to grab a few things we were out of and Santa was there. He didn't have a line and was going to be there for several more hours. I quickly got what I needed, ran home, and loaded the girls in the car. When we got back to the store, there was only one person with Santa and we were next. Emma was pretty nervous about him so I made Kali sit with her as far away from him as possible so she wouldn't cry. He handed the girls bells to shake and told me to pull out my camera and start taking pictures.

Then he insisted on individual shots with each of the girls and me. I looked awful. I hadn't showered, combed my hair, or brushed my teeth and was still wearing my pajamas, but he didn't seem to mind. And I thought for sure Emma would start crying, but I think the bell he handed her took her mind off of him for a minute. It was perfect--no wait, no money,no crying and no stress.

Ice Skating

 

We decided to do something fun as a family and headed to the Oval to give ice skating a try. Everyone got to take part in the fun, even Emma. Kali practically skated like a pro and was off on her own from the very beginning. Sadie was super nervous at first and wouldn't let go of us until we made her. Then she realized it wasn't as tough as she thought and had a lot of fun. Ashlyn needed us to push her along at first, even with her walker. But when she finally caught the hang of it she didn't want us anywhere near her. She even wanted to go in the right lane where the big kids skate fast, unfortunatley for her, we wouldn't let her. I don't even dare go in that lane. Everyone fell at least a couple of times, but it was by far our funnest experience ice skating. Next time we just need to bring helmets.

The Grizzlies

 
We used our Pass of All Passes and took the girls to a Utah Grizzlies Hockey game today, their first one. It wasn't at all what they were expecting. Sadie thought it would be boring but as soon as the music started playing all the girls were out of their seats and dancing with huge smiles on their faces. I kept having to remind them to sit down when the game started again. They were a little confused by all the fights that broke out and kept asking questions about them. Thankfully there was cotton candy. There girls were stuffing their faces with it and Emma's couldn't get enough. It was her first experience with it and she loved it.

Costumes & Trick or Treating

Emmalyn - a strawberry

Ashlyn - Ariel

Sadie - Rapunzel

Kali - a vampire princess

I tried to convince Ashlyn to be a witch this year because Josh's mom already had a witch costume. But she decided she wanted to be Ariel. In the end I'm glad we went with her choice because she sure looked cute as a red headed Ariel. And Kali's costume was her own invention. I had never heard of a vampire princess. Sometimes she referred to herself as Dracula's daughter. I think she just wanted to be a cute vampire and I think we achieved the goal.

We really had a fun Halloween this year. We started out by trick or treating at Josh's work. Emma was adorable. As soon as she realized people were putting candy into her bag, she was saying thank you very loudly. Afterward, we went to my parents' house to show them the girls' costumes. Then we went home, ate dinner and trick or treated around the neighborhood. We finished off the evening by passing out candy while watching an old episode of Heman.

Carving Pumpkins

Today we carved pumpkins, one of my favorite activities and one of Josh's least favorite activities. The girls fall somewhere in between. Sadie doesn't like digging out the insides. Kali enjoys most of the process, and Ashlyn is young enough that she was just focused on separating the seeds from the pulp. I was just glad Josh was willing to fix my mistakes and fill in where needed. I broke Ashlyn's stem before getting the top off and I couldn't work on Sadie's while helping Kali. So he got Ashlyn's top off, helped Sadie, and then roasted the seeds. I also loved that the weather was nice enough that we were able to do our carving out on the deck. It sure made for a much easier clean up.

But my most favorite thing this go around was the finished product. I think these pumpkins are the best we've done yet.

Parry Halloween Pary

Our Halloween celebrations started early this year. We celebrated with all the Parry cousins tonight so that Grandma and Grandpa Parry could have a chance to see everyone's costumes. There were some super cute costumes, great food and fun games. The girls got to bob for apples, eat donuts from a string with no hands, and play a musical walking game for toys.

Ice Cream

Ever since I rolled my ankle back in April, I haven't been able to return to my old exercise routine due to pain and swelling. The doctor finally determined that I had re-injured my old injury and decided it was time to do surgery. So on the 15th, I once again had ankle surgery to hopefully correct the problem. However, loosing the use of both hands (due to crutches) and one ankle hasn't left me with the ability to do much for my girls. Kali has practically had to take over as mother. She gets Emma in and out of her crib and helps me make breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as take care of laundry and anything else that comes up. Needless to say, my girls are feeling a little stir-crazy and deprived. Brady and Jordan were kind enough to come over for the day today and entertain them for hours. They made homemade ice cream with the girls then took them outside to play water balloon games. It was fantastic!