October 2013

October was a fun and busy month. General Conference for church was the first weekend, which is when the Prophet, Apostles, and other general leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints address us during 4 or 5 2-hour sessions. Soccer was still going on on the weekends. Jared had two 3-day trips out of town for work. I had my glucose test and a separate progress appointment with the OB-Gyn. I had Activity Days two nights, and I watched a friend's kids one day. Then on top of everything else, we had a bunch of Halloween celebrations. We'll cover the Halloween celebrations in another post. Though the whole month was pretty fun, overall, we were somewhat glad to have a less eventful November.

I love General Conference weekend. Listening to the different talks from the leaders of the church is refreshing to the soul. We stay home at watch it on tv through the internet. It is much easier with the kids. The kids watch some of it, but we don't expect them to watch all of it. The weekend can be hard on them due to being in the house for so long. But they were pretty good at entertaining themselves as Mom and Dad were listening to the talks.

Allie as Super Statue of Liberty

The Girls Directing Music

We made a few purchases in October in preparation for baby. It would have been nice to spread out the two purchases, but they were both on sale, and we had an expiring coupon for one. The first was a new glider. Our previous one was purchased when I was pregnant with Allie. It was a cheap one from Walmart. It was pretty good for awhile, but it got squeakier with age and beat up with our moves. In addition to being beat up in moves, the girls played with it a lot. They'd lay it down so that they could have a fort under it, and then they would also climb on it. It broke in a few places. All in all, we decided that it would probably be best to get another one. And the new one came with an ottoman, too. The other item was a new car seat. We basically got the cheapest travel system we could when pregnant with Allie. The seat hadn't technically expired, yet, but we felt we should get a newer, safer car seat. We ended up going with the Chicco KeyFit 30. Obviously we haven't put baby in it, yet, but it seems a lot better and safer for baby. And we got a good deal on it. We didn't get the travel system this time, though.

This is a super cute video of Rachel laughing, and it lets you hear how horrible the squeaking was on the old glider. Rachel had just woken up from nap. She had been grumpy, but then pushed on the glider and started busing up at the horrible sound.

Allie and Rachel enjoying the new Glider

I don't have a picture of the new car seat, but here's a video of the girls enjoying some of the cardboard that was included in the packaging. Or perhaps this is cardboard from the packaging for the glider. Either way, it is fun.

A new park opened in Springdale. It is a handicap-accessible park, so everything is made so that children in wheelchairs or with disabilities can participate. There are ramps so that they can get to any of the slides. A friend of ours went to the ribbon-cutting ceremony. She said that the man who designed the park was disabled. He spoke about how he would design army worlds when he was a kid. They were perfect, but he couldn't play in them. He was honored to be able to make this park so that all kids could play on it. And truly, all kids enjoy it, whether handicapped or not.

Rachel on a Fun Swing

Allie on a Fun Swing

The Merry-go-Round is probably one of the Favorites

Allie enjoys pushing it and riding on it.

Rachel will ride on it a little, but she mostly likes to push it.

There are some ladders, still. Rachel likes to climb anything she can.

Isn't she looking so grown up?

Allie told me that she was going to make new friends at the park. After being at the park for a few minutes, she told me again that she was going to make new friends. She then went up to a girl and asked if she wanted to be her friend. The girl said yes and they started playing together. The girl was probably two or three years older than Allie, but they played well together. At one point, they started racing up a slide. It was a wide slide with really fat rails on the side. The girls had taken off their shoes and socks and were each climbing up a side rail. It seemed that they were both having fun and winning evenly. Then Allie started to lose. Her feet would slip, and she'd say, "I think we should start over." The other girl would keep going up and cheer when she won. Allie got sad and came over to me. I started telling her it was okay and that she should just keep practicing. I mentioned that the other girl was older, but that if she worked hard, she could still win sometimes. Then the girl came over and said something that I found very interesting. It completely went along with the articles that have been shared on Facebook about how kids aren't learning about the reality of life; we're teaching them that everyone can be winners. She said, "Allie, it's okay. It's like a pattern. Allie wins, I win, Allie wins, I win... and it's okay, because every kid will get a trophy." It sort of surprised me to hear her say this, because 1) I didn't expect her to bring trophies into it, and 2) It was almost exactly what the articles say, "We're teaching the kids that everyone gets a trophy in the end." I just tried to encourage Allie to keep trying. She did, and she won a few more times. All in all, she had fun with her friend.

In addition to the purchases mentioned above, we had a few other things come up financially. With looking ahead to our large deductible and the 20% we'll be covering after the deductible is met, we realized that we really need to save where we can and earn where we can. I have a few car seat canopies left over from craft shows. I listed them on craigslist. A lady contacted me and wondered if I could make a custom car seat canopy for her. She wanted a mustache one. I found some mustache fabric at Hobby Lobby, so I decided to do it. She was extremely happy with it, we made a little money on it, and we still have the others that can sell.

The Mustache Car Seat Canopy

I must say that I've wondered about the whole mustache phenomenon, but I thought it turned out pretty cute. The girls had some fun with the mustache theme, too.

Though I didn't make it for profit, I made another car seat canopy for a dear friend who had a baby boy a few months ago.

Rachel has become quite the little individual. She is definitely two. She can be so sweet at times and then completely frustratingly stubborn and ornery at others. But we love her dearly.

Here is a cute picture of her in an outfit she picked out and put on by herself.

Jared will occasionally hide from Buddy. It is usually behind the island or in the pantry, but it gets Buddy worked up. He will bound through the living room, going back and forth as he tries to find Jared. The video below shows a glimpse of his bounding. He normally bounds more, but when I took this video, he had already been bounding for quite a bit and was tired. It is still pretty funny to watch. Yes, the living room is a disaster. That's not uncommon these days.

A little bit of fun from September 2013

These are some random pictures and videos from the month of September.

We had a church activity, where George Dyer, an award-winning tenor who performs in Branson, MO with his family, came and performed for us. It was a fun evening. The girls entertained themselves by playing with rocks and their friend Cooper for most of the time. There was popcorn, snow cones, and cotton candy, though the cotton candy ran out before we got there. The only bummer of the night was when I waited in line for popcorn for 45 minutes to an hour, finally got to the front of the line, and the popcorn popper machine stopped working. There were three pregnant ladies, including myself, who would have gotten popcorn from that batch. It was funny and sad at the same time.

Cooper, Rachel, and Allie playing with Rocks

Allie can be quite the character, though she can also come off as very shy at times. You just never know what to expect from her. And she does have fun dancing.

She also has some great fashion sense. She looks like she is about to cry in the picture below, but she really wasn't.

Since we can't afford preschool for Allie, I've been rotating with two other moms from church. I've had just one other girl come twice so far, though I will typically have two other girls come every third week. Allie enjoys "school," though she enjoys it a lot more when I am not the teacher. I really try to be patient and loving as I help her. I'm guessing I am just not as fun as others. I don't think I was meant to be an early education teacher. Luckily, the other girl has seemed to have a pretty good time when she comes.

Rachel, Allie, and Hayley doing "school"

Allie and Hayley practicing numbers

Again, a month is not full without taking some pictures at the park.

I love this one of Rachel. She actually climbed up, turned around, and said, "Take picture, Mama."

Allie was so happy and proud to be a "good big sister" this day. She pushed Rachel on the swing for 10-15 minutes. Rachel didn't want out, and Allie insisted on pushing her as long as she wanted. It was pretty sweet.

Fall Soccer Games

Allie got her uniform and had her pictures taken on the same day as her first game. She was pretty ecstatic. There had been some mix-up, so her uniform actually said, "Springfield, Virginia." She didn't know the difference, though.

Right after putting her uniform on - All Smiles

Allie's Official Individual Picture

The Tigers

Oliver, Reagan, Allie, McKayla, Landyn, Coach Jason

Conner, Zaid, Mason, Colton

In line during warm-up for first game.

(Allie is 3rd in line)

Allie is #5

Cute Shot of Allie while on the Sideline

At the end of every game, the parents form a tunnel for the kids to run through. It is definitely one of the kids' favorite parts. After each game, we ask Allie what her favorite part was. She answered, "Running through the tunnel" a time or two.

Allie leading the Tigers through the tunnel

Watching little kids play soccer is always fun. One definitely never knows what to expect. In the Spring season, Allie started catching on and was a little more "in the action" by the end, rather than running around the action. The first game of the Fall season was a little reminiscent of the beginning of the Spring season, but then Allie seemed to be a different player for the next two games. She was actually going for the ball and taking it away from people. She even scored in a game. Then after those few games, she seemed to forget what she was supposed to do and mostly just ran around near the action. She was always fun to watch, though. And most importantly, she always had fun.

Allie Scores

Just a few more videos

Some more pictures from the season

I love her face in this one.

Look at her go!

The second to last game was very cold. It was in the thirties. Allie does not function well when she is cold. She ran around with her hands in her pockets for most of the game.

The second to last game was originally going to be the last game, but one had been cancelled due to the rain and rescheduled for the last week of October. The coach had planned an end-of-the-season party at Fun City, so we still had it, even though there was still one more game. The coach provided the players and even Rachel with 10 tokens for games. They had a lot of fun playing games, earning tickets, eating pizza, playing miniature golf, and eating cupcakes.

Allie was absolutely giddy when she won 31 tickets from one game.

Rachel's "cheese" while we were eating.

Allie got two hole-in-ones on this 18-hole course.

Allie smiling with blue on her lips from the cupcake

It is hard to see, but Rachel's bottom lip is sticking out. She would NOT finish her one little piece of pizza, despite the threat to not get any cupcake. So, she didn't get a cupcake and was so sad about it. We are truly such mean parents.

Luckily, the weather was a little nicer for the last game. It was around 50 *F, but we still put some leggings and a long shirt under Allie's uniform. She doesn't have much fat on her to keep her warm, and there was a cool breeze.

Being silly and jumping around before the start of the game

Allie after kicking the ball for kick-off.

Rachel's sweet smile. She enjoyed terrorizing Daddy during the game.

Allie had a little break away, which resulted from a teammate's help, and just barely missed the goal.

Allie was sad that it was her last game. We told her that she could play again in the Spring if she wanted to. She said that she did want to play again, so we will get to look forward to more soccer fun in the Spring.

The Dogwood Trail at Winthrow Springs State Park

We were still having beautiful weather mid-September, so we decided to go for another day hike as a family. Again, we didn't want one too demanding for the girls. And we decided to take Buddy so that he could keep us safe from snakes. We headed to Winthrow Springs State Park and went on the Dogwood Trail. They say it is really pretty in the Spring when all of the dogwood trees are blooming. It was fun getting out, but it wasn't the most impressive trail we've been on. We did capture several pictures from our trip, though.

Allie caught a grasshopper, which "pooped" on her hand. She was fairly disappointed. We loved the face she made. 

Allie got a kid's camera for her birthday, and she brought it along for our adventure. She loves taking pictures of everything.

Just a neat tree

The trail was extremely rocky, and most of the rocks were loose. It wasn't like they brought rocks in to make a path, it was just rocky. We didn't love that aspect of the trail. At one point, there were a lot of loose rocks on a hill. Daddy was brave and carried Rachel, who was scared to walk down it (she had slipped on some rocks already), and had Buddy on the leash. They made it down safely. I held Allie's hand, and we also made it down safely.

It was beautiful seeing the light come through the trees.

The trail was a loop that started by a road, went through the woods to the campsites, and then looped back to the road. Near the campsites, there was a grassy area that the girls really enjoyed.

Allie occasionally got ahead of us and would then wait.

Rachel and Daddy

We expected Buddy to try and go off the trail, but he did very good at staying on the trail and not pulling ahead on the leash too much. He did a great job of scaring the snakes; we didn't see any. Allie was especially proud of him for that accomplishment. He was very thirsty at the end, so we gave him water in a little kid's bucket we had. There was a picnic table at the trail head, where we enjoyed the lunch we had packed.