HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Bugs and Hisses to everyone!  

(Blood donors needed... see the Count!)

Our Autumn Retreat...

We were missing grandma Deb, so we got on an airplane and headed to Utah for a little visit.  We had so much fun!  Grandma didn't even seem to mind all the chaos and commotion that comes along with having all 4 of her grandchildren (under the age of 4, mind you) at her house.  (Although, I think I heard her say, "Glad you came... happy to see you go!")  While we were there, Maggie and Grant got to play with cousins Lauren and Brooke.   

The weather was all over the place.  It was mostly nice, but a storm blew through one night and put 6 inches of snow on the ground!  It stayed long enough for uncle Mike to show Maggie and cousin Lauren how to make snowballs.  

Grandma took us to the "Barnyard Boo".  What a blast!  (You know I'm a sucker for those pumpkin patches!)  First, the kids spent about an hour on a giant jumping pillow. 

Grant and I discovered a sandbox full of corn.  He loved that!  Who wouldn't love that?  What a great idea!

We got lost in a corn maze.  Okay, not really.

Maggie milked a cow.  Okay, not really. 

But we did ride the cow train. 

And a hayride!  

Aunt Amy inspired Maggie and I to be festive with black toe nailpolish for Halloween!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Each year your birthday reminds me

What I really want to say

I’m very glad I have you;

I think of you every day.

I hope you enjoy your birthday,

All the blessings it has in store,

And because of how much I love you,

I hope you have MANY more!

Warm Pumpkin Pie Porridge

If you like pumpkin pie and cream of wheat... then you might like my new breakfast recipe! I originally found a recipe for this on the internet one day and was very intrigued by the sound of the combination and so I gave it a try. But, I discovered that it needed a few adjustments! So, through trial and error, I bring you the perfected Warm Pumpkin Pie Porridge! Enjoy! (Let me know what you think!)

Warm Pumpkin Pie Porridge

1/4 cup canned pumpkin

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

dash of salt

1 serving size of Cream of Wheat cereal

1 tablespoon Grape Nuts (optional)

Prepare Cream of Wheat cereal according to box directions. In a microwave bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt and stir. Microwave for 30-45 seconds (check every 15 seconds) until warm. Stir pumpkin mixture and cream of wheat together in a bowl and sprinkle Grape Nuts on top.
Serving size: one

Toilet Training In Less Than A Day

Today, I was thinking about how grateful I am that Maggie is so sucessfully potty trained; totally independent from my help and accident free since I trained her in June. Toilet Training in Less Than A Day by Dr Nathan Azrin is so brillant and amazing that I thought I should post about it in hopes that it might help someone else, too. I understand that what works for one child might not work for another, but I'm confident enough to brag about it cause it worked for my mom, my aunts and me. It's been tried and true with 8 children that I know of! It really took less than a day to train Maggie, 4 hours to be exact. But four very intense hours that saved me from potential weeks or months of frustration that I've seen other people go through. I'll give you the jist, but I recommend buying the book.

• First, Maggie had to be ready according to the readiness cues in the book. When I wanted to train her at 2, she was showing all the signs of readiness except for one very important element:she was stubborn! I'd ask her to do something and she'd say, "No, you do it!" (Her "catchy" phrase quickly became quoted amongst family members for a good laugh). But you can't train a stubborn child and the book had some excellent methods for working that out.
• A vital tool to the training experience involved Maggie teaching a baby doll that has the ability to pee. This is a common teaching technique: having the trainee teach someone else what they've just learned. Yes folks, even a 2 year old can do it!
• The way accidents are handled with this method was the key element that I think makes this method so successful. Accidents are pretty guaranteed and I think the way we handle them is ultimately what either makes this experience short or prolonged for weeks. When an accident occured (and for Maggie it only had to happen a handful of times) she then had to "practice" going potty. So, she'd wet her pants and after calmly explaining that "Mommy doesn't like wet pants" etc, she then had to RUN to the toilet, pull her WET pants down, sit on the toilet for ONE second, stand up, pull her WET pants back up and then go to a different location in the house to start over. She had to practice from 10 locations in the house. After the practicing was over, she cleaned up her own mess (as best a 2 1/2 year old could) and then changed her own pants. If you think about it, accidents happen because they don't get to the toilet soon enough. This "practicing" method forces them to recognize when they have to pee and teaches them how to get to the toilet fast so that they aren't disciplined again by having to "practice" again. It's pretty exhausting for the child, not the least bit enjoyable and the threat of having to practice again really excelerates the training to accident free bliss! What I really liked about this is that I was able to stay calm and firm, but matter of fact at the same time.

So, I 100% recommend this method. There are other important elements, but you'll have to get the book and follow it precisely for maximum benefit. The idea of working really hard for one day in exchange for not having to deal with prolonged woes of potty training was very appealing to me and if you're looking for a sure way to train your child... it might appeal to you, too!

Grant's 1st Birthday Party

As you know, our little Grant grew up and turned one.  So, we had a party, of course!  We gathered up the family and headed to the farm to celebrate!

First, we took a wagon ride around the 30 acre farm.

Then we spent some time with the very 

friendly farm animals.

Cory claims this is the best picture he has ever 

taken in his whole life.  Good job, hon!

We had a little celebration on some bales of hay 

under a tent.  We ordered take-out "farm" 

food from our favorite restaurant: Woodranch!

Grant liked the Happy Birthday song 

and amused us with some clapping.

Grant sitting amongst his pile of presents.

And got a lot of help from big sis, Maggie. 

Mom made a special barn cake with accompanying 

pig and chick cupcakes for the big occasion. 

Grandma Great

This beautiful woman is my grandma Joyce.  Today, she would have been 39 years old... again! As far back as I can remember, she would give her birthdays away to her grandchildren so that she wouldn’t ever have to be older than 39.  Four months ago, her temporal body suddenly failed her at the young age of 72, but the energy that radiated from her Spirit was never any older than 39.  I guess she really wasn’t pulling our leg afterall since she probably always felt “39”.  I think that is why her death was so shocking to me... cause she was so young at heart and full of life!  Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her and miss her. Her death has been the single most painful thing I’ve endured in my life.  I wasn’t ready for her to leave.  But then, come to think of it, I don’t think I ever would’ve been ready for her to leave.  I guess that’s why we are bonded as grandmother and granddaughter for eternity. 

The Sunday after she died, grandpa (isn't he handsome?) got up and went to church.  I was surprised since the death of his sweetheart seemed more than he could bear.  Later that night, I told him how proud I was of him for being such a strong example to our family by going to church.  He looked surprised and said, “Well, do you think for one minute that grandma wouldn’t let me go to church?  She’d say, ‘Bill!  Get out of bed and get to church!’”  He’s right!  She would’ve said that to any one of us!  In fact, I bet she’d be somewhat disappointed in me for mulling over her loss this long.  She would want me to carry on, happily pressing forward and being productive.

  

I am proud to call her my grandma.  I’ve heard so many describe her as their “best friend”.  I know for sure that she was definitely one of mine.  She never brought any attention to herself.  Instead, she always showed a genuine interest, concern and love for others which really made her so lovable cause you knew she cared about you!  One of my favorite things to do was just sit and talk with her.  We'd talk about anything and everything.  She was full of infinite wisdom.  She had a beautiful perspective.  I nicknamed her “Dr Joyce” cause she always had solutions to my college years crises.

Grandma wasn't a perfect person, but she strived to do all the things she was supposed to do.  For me, the only good thing that has come from her death is my renewed committment to be just like her by doing all the things I'm supposed to be doing, too!  I want to make her proud!

I knew the day would come when she'd have to leave us, I guess I just imagined I would be much older.  My kids were just starting to get to know her and love her as much as I do.  She was a huge influence in my life and it's so comforting to know that she will continue to be an influence on the other side to family yet to come.  

HAPPY 39th BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!

Look who's ONE today!

Where has the time gone?  Today is Grant's 1st Birthday.  We are so blessed to have this cute little guy as part of our family and what a year it has been!  I didn't realize that it could be just as much fun to have a little boy as it is to have a little girl.  My favorite thing has been seeing the huge difference between him and Maggie.  He loves to growl, eat dirt, drive cars around the carpet, explore, climb and be outdoors.  If that's not a boy, then I don't know what is!  

• As a newborn, he would hold his arms straight in front of him with fists as if he was riding a Harley motorcyle. 
• By the time he was 4 months, he LOVED to bounce.  Anyone who held him quickly discovered that his favorite position was being held on their lap while he bounced.  
• He started growling at 5 months... and hasn't stopped!
• He's never been a cuddler, but he'll give his mommy brief loves! 
• By 10 months, he was pointing at everything and would clap everytime we said, "good job!" to Maggie.
• He loves it when daddy comes home from work.  He crawls as fast as he can to Cory, gets up on his knees and holds his little arms up.  Daddy gets a big hug and a pat on the shoulder.  
• I've had to baby-proof our house for the first time since he loves to get into everything! His repeated offenses include getting into the dirt in our potted tree, opening the bathroom door to splash his hand in the toilet water and climbing up Maggie's step stool at the bathroom sink.   

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Grant's 1st year: 

Can I still call him my baby boy, even though he's one now?

And now a word from our dentist...

I am proud to report a successful trip to the dentist today for little Maggie. I wasn’t sure how the whole thing would play out, so I did some extensive preparation by checking out library books about visiting the dentist. And everyday we practiced opening our mouth wide. It helped to have such a fabulous pediatric dentist who sent Maggie a personalized book in mail all about their office and seeing the dentist. Thanks for the recommendation, Carrie! All the prep really paid off and she was calm and cooperative throughout the whole procedure. Her only disappointment was not being able to see the clouds out the window while she was sitting in the chair like one of her library books described. Hey, I can’t complain! I learned something interesting today... gum that is sweetened with xylitol actively aids in repairing minor cavities and prevents them too by attracting and “starving” harmful micro-organisms. So, if your kids (or yourself) ingest something highly sugared, it’s not a bad idea to pop a piece of Trident gum afterwards (seriously)!