Joy school - Letter "I"

I taught Elle's little joy school group this morning. I love how we only have to teach once every 7 weeks. It gives me plenty of time to plan something super fun and creative, and even better - it gives me plenty of time to recoup afterwards!

Today I taught the letter "I" and number 9. 

We did writing on white boards, shared books about insects, made insects for snack time (using raisins, craisins, peanuts, silvered almonds, veggie sticks, pretzels, and graham crackers- with peanut butter to help it stick together), made ice cream in a bag, marched with instruments around a tee pee dressed like Indians (while also shaking the ice cream), made igloos out of marshmallows, read "Inch by Inch", made inchworms out of play dough, then used rulers to measure our inchworms. It was quite a jam packed 2 1/2 hours!

I sure love being a part of this joy school group. The kids are adorable, the moms are all amazing, and I love what fun activities Elle gets to do every week!

October happenings

It's been one busy month - packed with General Conference, Stake Conference, Primary Program prep, the birth of a new nephew/cousin, Spencer's birthday, field trips, parent/teacher conferences, dentist and doctor appointments, and lots fall festivities! I'm always amazed at how much can happen in just one month!

I've got lots of random pics from this month that I don't want to go undocumented, so prepare yourself for a photo overload (and probably what should be 5 different posts)!

Our joy school group has been trying to go on different field trips every Friday. The first Friday of October was my turn to plan and since it was "D" week I scheduled a trip to our Dentist office (the one Spence has been going to since he was a kid). The kids had fun learning proper brushing techniques:

Even younger siblings got a turn!

Then they got a sneak peak into what an exam is like - goodie bags included! Dr Pez did a great job with the kids! They had a lot of fun, and it totally prepared Elle for her dentist appointment the following week (which she was a total champ for).

Crafts for the month have been out of control! I hang some, but then toss the rest (which I always feel super guilty about). Here's a couple Elle's come home with:

Madi celebrated Red Ribbon week at school and had something different to dress-up like everyday. Wish I would have taken pics each day- here's one from 70's (hippie) day:

I got a hair cut on the 16th - chopped off way more than I was originally planning on.

Can't really tell what it looks like from the front, so here's my attempt to get a side view: 

I miss being able to pull it up into a ponytail, but since that's all I'd ever do with it, I'm enjoying the change! This is the night after I cut my hair - Elle's mouth was killing her and I was trying my hardest to get her to eat or drink anything (with no success).  

We had our ward trunk-or-treat on the 18th which was way too early in my opinion! It totally threw me off the rest of the month - felt like Halloween should be over. Also, it was right when Elle had her canker and she wasn't eating or talking that day. I'm super excited for her to have a trick or treating do- over! We were thrilled that Christin, Lainey, and Josh joined us for the night!

Last week Elle had a school field trip to Underwood Farms pumpkin patch. I was a lot of fun, but a lot of work. Elle just wanted to run around with her friend Brooke, and I really just wanted some good photo moments with Elle and Cal. Ya, didn't get any of those. Instead I spent the morning lugging around our three pumpkins and following Elle around, trying to motivate Cal to catch up (he was having a great time relaxing and enjoying the scene)!

I had a great time watching Cal search for the perfect pumpkin . . .

. . . and then had a good laugh while he struggled to take it with him!

I was glad to meet Elle's good little friend - it's always nice to finally put a face to a name.

We had a fun hayride and it was good to get to know some of the other parents.

Then this past weekend, I really wanted to have some family fun! So, Saturday morning we headed to to the Santa Barbara Zoo. Since Boppi's still in San Antonio helping Joc with new baby Collin, we had Grandpa Al join us. Always a treat!

I was loving how the the entire Zoo was decorated for Halloween! Made me feel a little better about not getting many pics from our pumpkin patch field trip. They had a sweet maze set up for the kids. . .

. . . and a scary zoo cemetery! 

And it was nice that all the animals were out. We got a good show!

It was mostly just nice spending time as a family (even if some were opposed to picture taking).

After the zoo we stopped by Padaro Grill for a late lunch/early dinner. Christin, Lainey, and Josh joined us and we ended up staying for a good 2+ hours enjoying the gorgeous views, perfect weather, and a relaxing day!

Phew! All that, and the month isn't even over! More Halloween fun to come!!

19 months

Today was a big day for Calvin! Not only is he 19 months old today, but he also stayed in nursery for the full two hours without Spencer! A huge breakthrough! Spence definitely enjoyed it WAY more than Cal did, but thankfully Cal only cried for 20 minutes. I was all the way down the hall in the chapel practicing for our primary program, so I missed all the hysterics. One of the nursery leaders came and got a binky for him, but that's about it for my involvement with Cal being in nursery. I'm glad that Spencer can finally enjoy Sundays again.

Aside from not liking being left with strangers, Cal has been so much fun this month. He's talking like crazy, which is always exciting. He'll say anything we tell him to say but now says it clearly. Since early this month, he's be saying at least one new word everyday.

New words this month: animal, tomato, meat, stuck, binky, please, no more, all done, water, elephant, moon, yuck, work, walk, sister (I'm sure there's more, these are just all I wrote down).

He mostly just says words, doesn't really speak in clear sentences yet, but I will be able to pick out things like, "you read me a book?"

He loves watching "Letter Factory" every morning and as a result knows all of the letter sounds and can identify the letter name for O, K, M, U, B, W, S, Y, L, X and Z.

I love going through his letters and quizzing him. He gets all serious and says them so clearly. Except instead of W he just says "double".

Elle has fun quizzing Cal in the bath!

Cal's such a sweet little boy, He gives "hugs" on request by laying his head on the person's shoulder. I was dying during our Costco trip on Friday. He was being so sweet with Elle and kept snuggling up to her. I'd tell him to give her a hug and he'd lay his head on her shoulder while they sat side by side in the cart. I feel spoiled getting to hang out with him everyday.

He can definitely give me a run for my money though, and sure knows how to tire me out - like how he arches his back when I'm trying to put him in his car seat when he's not ready to get in, or when he digs through my diaper bag and pulls everything out looking for gum! Then he eats piece by piece, wrapper and all!

But oh how I loving having a boy!! I love watching Cal drive his trucks up and down our driveway. I love how he likes to hold his cars in the stroller or car seat. I love his expression anytime he hears a train in the distance. I love how he runs through the house with his football, throws it down, and put his hands up in the air for a touchdown! I love all the boy stuff which is so new for me.

But it is pretty funny when he puts on the Cinderella shoes and marches through the house pushing the shopping cart or shaking maracas! Such a crack up!

One of my favorite things I've discovered about little boys is that their mama can always make it all better. And that holds true for Cal - I'm usually the only one he wants when he's sad. Makes my day every time!

Happy Birthday Spence!!!

This past weekend we celebrated Spencer's 34th birthday! I had good intentions of finding him an awesome gift and taking him out on a romantic date Saturday night, but who am I kidding!? It had been a crazy week- dealing w Elle's canker, parent teacher conferences, and early release at 12pm every single day (giving me not a moment to myself all week). Taking all 3 kids birthday shopping was out of the question, and buying things like clothes, a new wallet, or briefcase (the last two which he currently wants) are a little hard to do on Amazon. We did end up going out Saturday night, but he had a priesthood meeting before and then went over to work on a project with his dad afterwards so we didn't actually leave til 7:30pm (thanks dad for babysitting)! By the time we were done with our Sushi dinner, the outlets were closing so we skipped shopping altogether. It was a nice to spend that short time out together though. 

Spence's actual birthday was on Sunday and it was Stake Conference which was nice (getting home at 12 is way better than 4pm)! The kids and I made his requested french toast for breakfast (but he woke up too early for us to serve it to him in bed), then he had leftover sushi for lunch, and we smoked a salmon for dinner served with broccoli and red potatoes. His dessert of choice this year was "a big ol chocolate cake - that the kids could help me make" (big thanks to Aunt Fay and Uncle Bob for the tips on the cake:). It was a fun family day with lots of delicious food!

The girls made Spencer the sweetest cards. Madi also made a special book for Spencer filled with pictures of her favorite things to do with her dad. What sweet little kids!

Love you so much babe! Hope it was a nice relaxing day for you! It's gonna be a great year! 

Elle's canker

This has been one of the longest weeks ever! I know kids are resilient and all, but there's not much more stressful than watching your own kid suffer. We discovered a sore in Elle's mouth on Monday (which we figured out was a canker sore), and by Wednesday she wasn't eating AT ALL! I was trying everything, but she'd pierce her lips shut, hold her hands over her mouth, and not let anything in.  

Wednesday afternoon I took her to the doctor (even though I was pretty sure they couldn't do anything for her). Calvin screamed the entire time, making it hard for me to even have a conversation with the doctor (which actually wasn't even our doctor- just the one on call). Elle was in lots of pain and would barely open her mouth to even let the doctor take a look. He prescribed amoxicillin which I don't think she should be on, but I was desperate and willing to try anything. He also told me to get cepacol which I hadn't heard of before, but was informed it would numb the area and allow her to eat. 

So we headed to CVS to fill the prescription (I gave Cal a lecture all the way there about how this is not about him and how he needs to chill and let me get some medicine to help Elle feel better). Cal calmed down and sat quietly in the stroller allowing me to drop off the prescription and start looking for the cepacol. Elle was crying with her hands clutching her mouth as we walked up and down the aisles looking for something that wasn't even what we needed. Long story short, Elle went to bed that night with her mouth still in pain and only a drink of water in her tummy.

This picture was taken the only time Elle ate food on Wednesday- at preschool when she had 3 fruit snacks!

Thursday morning, in attempts to get her to eat using the left side of her mouth (like she'd done earlier), I noticed another sore on that side of her tongue! So now she had canker sores on both sides of her tongue! I started salt water. Since Elle wouldn't let anything in her mouth, I'd use a syringe. While holding her hands, I'd sit her on the kitchen counter and squirt salt water through her teeth, telling her to spit it out. She'd cry, allowing me to squirt it directing onto the canker. It was terrible. But then at least she'd drink water afterwards. She ate no food at all on Thursday. I did buy some almond chocolate milk at Trader Joes that afternoon that with lots of bribing, she drank a tiny bit of. Elle didn't talk all day. Any use of the mouth hurt way too much.

Spencer gave Elle a priesthood blessing Thursday night before bed.

Friday Elle woke up and seemed better. I was shocked and immediately offered some chocolate milk to drink. She drank almost a half cup (while holding the cup herself)! I was so happy I grabbed my phone to snap a picture!

Unfortunately, that small glass of milk was the only thing Elle ate or drank the rest of the day. She even refused water. It was killing me to see her so hungry but knowing that whatever she ate and/or drank would hurt her mouth. The shocking thing about all this was that Elle didn't lay around, lethargic and lazy all day. She'd do puzzles, color, play with Calvin. She even went out and picked me a little bouquet of flowers. She's been the sweetest little girl though all this. She didn't talk the entire day again, but would make little noises with her mouth and motion for things she wanted.

Friday night was our ward trunk-or-treat. Elle was excited to get all dressed up and head out to the party. I was shocked that she had any energy left in that little body of hers. I could tell she desperately wanted a piece of pizza at the party, but she continued to refuse. Before bed I again held her down to squirt in salt water, give some Amoxicillin, and offer water (all which she tried refusing). She again went to bed on an empty stomach.

By now Spencer and I were by beside ourselves. I sent Spence out to "find something" that we could use to numb Elle's mouth and get her eating again. By the time he got home Elle was fast asleep, but at least we had something I was hopeful would work the next morning.

I've never been more anxious for Elle to wake up.

This morning, after 3 days of no food and little amounts of water, Elle woke up still refusing to eat or drink. Spencer was threatening to take her to the hospital if the "mouth sore medicine" he'd bought didn't work. The only way to get Elle to open her mouth was squirting salt water through her teeth. Sure enough she started crying and I got my finger into her mouth, wiping the gel onto the side of her tongue. She immediately demanded water which we were thrilled about! Then we gave Amoxicillin and continued to offer chocolate milk. The medicine finally kicked in because she then went to the fridge and pointed to the applesauce. She couldn't open her mouth to eat it though, so Spence came up with the genius idea of feeding her applesauce through the syringe. It worked!! I held her upright while he'd squeeze it in. I was elated!!

She ended up eating an entire bowl of applesauce, then rubbed her belly and said "Mmmm". She went onto eat some yogurt (even opened her mouth to take a bite), a muffin, bites of a banana, and some cheese!

She's continued to make improvements throughout the day and I'm just loving listening to her non-stop talking!!!

Elle at FOUR!

Time for an update on Elle - since she turned 4 three months ago!

Elle is my mini me. I don't know if it's being the middle child or what, but she reminds me of how I like to think I was as a kid.

She's a natural when it comes to little kids. She's my #1 babysitter and takes care of Calvin every morning while I'm scurrying around trying to get breakfast made, lunches packed, hair done, clothes on, and Madi out the door by 7:50.

She's super responsible too! She wakes up the earliest, gets dressed on her own, then reads books on the couch while she waits for the rest of the house to wake up.

(This is her spot- wrapped up in blanket, bowl of dry cereal for munching, and usually a huge stack of books next to her.)

Many times I'll leave on an early run with instructions for her to wake up Spencer when she's done reading and have him help her get Cal out of bed. I'll come home and find her in Cal's bedroom playing and reading him books.

Elle is super thoughtful. Anytime she goes on a daddy daughter date with Spencer and they get a treat, she'll ask to bring home a treat for Madi too.

She doesn't like to see her siblings sad or upset. Anytime Calvin is crying, Elle will run grab his blanket, monkey, and/or binky and bring it to him with a hug and kiss, reassuring him that everything's ok. She and Madi make cards and draw pictures for each other when the other is sad.

Elle is great at making friends. I had a parent/teacher conference with her preschool teacher the other day, and Ms. Barbara commented on what a good friend Elle is and how she likes to play with everyone.

She really does. Elle makes friends everywhere we go. And she gets along with the boys just as much as the girls. She's a natural friend and doesn't get all emotional and sensitive about silly stuff. One afternoon awhile back, Elle brought her scooter and bike to the park and really wanted to share with one of her boy friends that was there. After offering him her scooter, he says: "It's pink! I don't like pink. It's a girl color."

Very cooly Elle responds: "It has black on it, black is a boy color."

Elle also plays really well on her own. I rarely have to entertain her. She's got a great imagination!

She's super sweet, but also has her quirks that can drive me absolutely crazy- like her early morning requests for me to fix her hair when I'm not even awake yet! Elle can't stand having her hair in her face and is really big into ponytails right now. It's funny how she'll go through hair styles. She'll find something she likes, then request that same hairstyle every single day!

It's hard to get mad at Elle and she actually is very sensitive when time-outs or having to apologize is involved. She'll seem stubborn, but inside feels terrible and will be on the verge of tears. 

Elle got her first ever canker sore (on her tongue) yesterday and has been in excruciating pain. When we said prayers last night, she asked Heavenly Father to help her "sore tongue" feel better. I think I said something to reassure her that she would definitely feel better after getting a good night sleep. Then when Elle woke up this morning she was being especially whiny, emotional and dramatic about everything. I lost my cool and told her to knock it off or she'd be spending the morning in "quiet time". Then she burst into tears and cried out, "But you promised me my tongue would feel better today!!"

Poor little girl! Broke my heart right there! I pulled her into my lap for a snuggle to tell her how sorry I was. I love how Elle helps me to remember to be patient. She helps me to be a better mom and I'm grateful for all that she teaches me. Love you Elle!!