The Hippy Hippy Shake

What a great week we had. Jeff started school this week and it went more smoothly then we had hoped, Sunday night we had dinner at the Bryson’s and Jeff received a blessing before his first day. His financial aid came in without incident and he was able to get his parking permit and all his books. His schedule is such that he only has classes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I worked Monday morning and we swapped kids at about 9:30 so he could head to school and I could head home. I really enjoyed being at home again. We enjoyed a rousing game of Pretty, Pretty Princess for Family Home Evening.
I didn’t have to work on Tuesday and since Jeff doesn’t have classes we drove to Mesa to attend the temple. It was the perfect opportunity, and even though it was very hot in the Phoenix area, it was a great time. We ate in the food court at the Arizona Mills mall and walked around a bit. The girls especially enjoyed the gift shop at the Rainforest Café. Helen got such a kick out of the animatronic animals. We drove back to Tucson in time to enjoy dinner at Pinnacle Peak with my parents, grandparents, and uncle, aunt and cousins. They were visiting from Washington state and had not met the girls before. True to their characters, Felicity greeted everyone with big hugs and was sitting on my cousin’s lap by the end of the night; Helen, however, was slightly more reserved and stuck to the people she knew. It was nice catching up and chatting.

I had a few cakes to do this weekend, which were a lot of fun. I made a lovely cake in pink hues with buttercream roses, and two small cakes which looked like presents for a pair of twin girls’ first birthday. I spent most of Friday making cakes. We did break down and buy new cell phones this week and I could not be more happy. My new phone does it all. I was baking cakes and listening to Pandora on my phone and Helen came around the corner, for giggles I started to dace and do the twist while singing. Instead of finding it amusing, Helen became embarrassed, put her hands over her eyes and shouted "Stop it Mom" while stomping her foot. We had dinner and game night with the Bryson’s. The girls have such a fun time over there. Jeff worked on Saturday at an estate stale on Kolb and Stella. He sent me a text pretty early letting me know he had bought a gas grill and asking if I could pick it up for him. So I dropped off the cakes and headed into Tucson. I picked up the grill and payment for another pair cakes that I’m doing on Tuesday. I also stopped by the other sale and visited with my mom.

Today has seemed really busy for a Sunday. I substituted in the Sun Beam class, so I prepared my lesson for that. We're excited for tomorrow, after Jeff gets home from school we’re driving to Phoenix for a Green Day concert. It should be a lot of fun. I look forward to the coming week an all that it will entail.

Don't Let Me Down

There seemed to be a lot of stress this week, but at the same time there was a lot of progress made. I’m really looking forward to having a more well defined schedule starting on Monday. Felicity has really been enjoying school and Helen has been enjoying some time to herself every other morning.

The girls stayed the night with Nana on Wednesday. Jeff has a meeting on Wednesday night and I interpret for Young Women’s on Wednesday so it worked out great. On Thursday morning Jeff went to the U of A for his first day of orientation. Luckily having gone through orientation several years ago I was able to let him know which things he needed to attend and which were less than necessary. A big thanks to Emily who let him park at her and Chris’ apartment and dropped him off and picked him up at the U of A. He met with the engineering advisor and got things squared away with his student ID. He also had his math scores and community college transcript briefly evaluated for math placement. Fortunately, when he got home and looked into the status of his financial aid it was all accounted for including an extra grant.
Friday after dropping Felicity off at school, I took Jeff back to the U of A and while he was registering for classes and filing an instate residency form, Helen and I met up with Nana and Grandma Lo in Tucson. We went to the thrift and Wal-Mart. Jan picked Felicity up from school at 11am and Felicity and Hailey had a good time together while we waited for Jeff to finish registering. I picked Jeff up later in the afternoon and he took Helen home while Mom and I went and had our eyebrows waxed.
Jeff ended up getting a pretty good schedule. He’ll be in classes Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays from about 10am-6pm. I think this will work out well. I’m going to try and change my work schedule such that I will work from 5am-9am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and all day on Tuesday and Thursday. It also gives him plenty of time to do his studying and homework at school. He’s taking two math courses, an engineering course, and three general education classes. He already has several credits from college course work he did while in high school, so that has helped a lot. I’m confident Jeff will do well.

Friday evening we played games over at the Bryson’s house and the girls stayed the night over there. Jeff and I got up early on Saturday and both worked at the estate sale, which was in Tubac. It was a long tiring day that ended in a wet mess at the end when monsoon rain drenched us as we were trying to load up the donation truck. We are very grateful that the Bryson’s were able to watch Felicity and Helen so that Jeff and I could both work. Jeff was excited to bring home a bass guitar that he bought at the sale, well actually my mom bought it and he’ll need to pay her back. It was $50 for the guitar, a gig bag, a tuner, and an amp. He was happy with it, now he can be his own one man band. We hope everyone has a great week.

Hello Little Girl

What a great and tiring week. We did the mall again for FHE this week. While we were there we decided to use Helen’s birthday money from the Davidson’s to get her a pair of shoes. I have been stuck on what to do for shoes for Helen. I have a huge box full of shoes that Felicity has grown out of. I almost exclusively have gotten kids shoes second hand at $1-$2 per pair, so I have amassed quite a collection of shoes, none of which fit Helen. It’s been frustrating and she’s been wearing flip-flops for the past few months and socks to church because of the problem. So Monday we took her to Stride Rite to be fitted for shoes. Come to find out she’s a size 6 double wide; needless to say, they did not have any double wide shoes, nor did any of the other six children’s shoes stores we visited. At the point of being ready to give up we stopped in Sears where we found one pair of double wide toddle shoes on sale for $19.99. Here is to hoping Helen’s feet don’t grow too quickly!

The fall softball season started this week, so I played softball on Thursday night. It was fun to get back in the swing of it, pun absolutely cheesy and intended. Jeff brought the girls to play in the park during the game so fun was had all around.
Felicity had her first “homework” assignment at school this week. The topic was “All About My Family”. She was asked to make a poster with photos of her family. She picked out several pictures and did all the pasting; Jeff helped her with the cutting. She had a great time. We were excited to help her and to encourage her excitement about school. She really loves going, she just lights up whenever we ask about what she did in school. On Friday I went in and watched for the last 30 minutes of class. She is really well behaved and attentive. She also surprised me with how quickly she’s learning. Prior to going to pre-school, Felicity could write the F in her name. On Friday I watched her write her name in its entirety. We’re so proud of her.
Thursday was Helen’s 2nd birthday, but we waited to celebrate until the weekend. I had to work Friday morning, so Jeff got started baking the cakes for Helen while I was at work. I worked on her princess cake most of the day. The kids swam in the pool and enjoyed a movie after Felicity got home from pre-school. Felicity helped me with the cake for awhile too. In the evening after dinner, the girls and Daddy went out for awhile and I finished up Helen’s cake. I also made a second, much smaller cake in the shape of a princess carriage.
Saturday we met Nana and Papa at the International Wildlife Museum. The girls had a great time. I really enjoyed teaching Felicity about some of the things we saw and asking her questions. She really grasps concepts quickly. Jeff showed her how to tell the difference between male and female butterflies and also in birds. I asked her later in the museum if she knew which was which and she did and explained why. We also studied some skulls and talked about the difference between the herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores and guessed which animals the skulls belonged to. Helen loved all the touch and feel exhibits. Then we met Grandma Lo and Grandpa Gene at Peter Piper Pizza and Helen opened some gifts, rode the carousel and ate pizza. We enjoyed the little Princess Carriage cake while we were there. Felicity followed Papa around in the game area earning tickets. She made me so proud, when we were getting ready to go, Felicity wanted to cash in her tickets; she spent five and there wasn’t anything else she wanted so she decided to save the rest and put them with the others she has saved at home. I think it’s important to teach children about saving and delayed gratification. I read a study once that children that learned delayed gratification early in life were more likely to be happy and successful later in life; just some food for thought.
Our friends and family met at our house in the evening for birthday cake and games. We were especially happy that Emily and Chris came with baby Lilly. We had a great time playing games and the kids love playing together. Helen had a great birthday, I’m grateful for a loving and supportive family who were there to celebrate with us. Helen has changed so much in the last two years. She still doesn’t have much hair, in the front at least, but what’s in the back is curly. She’s intelligent and articulate. I love when she doesn’t want something offered to her she says “no, thank you”. She’s been very amiable to sit on the potty of late and loves her sister. She enjoys playing by herself and with others; I love to catch her making up a scenario with her dolls. Helen gives the best, strongest hugs; while guarded at first when meeting new people, she falls in love easily. She’s adventurous and unafraid, loves spicy food and illuminates our lives. We love her so much and appreciate her unique spirit.

Can't Buy Me Love

Challenges in our lives can be stumbling blocks or stepping-stones depending on how we handle them. If we become unhappy and angry because of the difficulties we face in life, they are stumbling blocks to us. If we handle our difficulties with a positive attitude and learn from them, then we become better people and our challenges are like stepping-stones to us. Our attitude makes the difference in almost every situation. I’ve tried to keep a positive attitude throughout my life and I believe it has made all the difference in some of the most difficult and challenging things I’ve had to go through in my life. I’ve felt reflective on this idea of attitude in the past few days as I look at a circumstance in our life where I am having an arduous time deciding what the right thing to do is. Luckily I have help from on high when I humbly pray for answers.
This week has been full of triumphs and frustrations. Jeff finally received an answer to his application to the University of Arizona. We’ve met a lot of trouble as we’ve tried to get him registered for orientation. He was unable to register at first because the University had a fee from 2004 that they needed him to pay, then they needed his immunization records, after successfully jumping through those hoops, it was a technical difficulty on the University’s part keeping him from getting into orientation. Jeff went to clear up some of the confusion and got a parking ticket! We did finally get him registered for orientation which will be August 19th-20th; classes start the following Monday, the 23rd. He is on the waiting list for a parking permit so he’s waiting to hear about that soon and hopes he gets one before school starts. We’re currently trying to get transcripts from both Pima College and Cochise College sent to the University prior to orientation and he needs to take his math exam sometime this coming week. I’m hoping all the calculus studying he’s been doing will pay off and he’ll test into calculus. The engineering advisor said he really needed to start with calculus his first semester. I’m so proud of him; this has really been quite a challenge and I’m not sure it’s over yet, seeing as we still need to get all the financial aid issues resolved too.
Felicity started pre-school this week. She’s going to the Sahuarita School District Early Childhood Center on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8am – 11am. She had a great time and when Jeff went to pick her up after her first day, he said she had tears in her eyes because she didn’t want to leave. Jeff and I are going to try and volunteer once a week, I think it’s very important to be actively involved in our children’s education. I’m so grateful we are able to give her this opportunity. I often feel badly that we can’t do more for the girls. I know they would both enjoy dance/tumbling class and swim lessons, and I’d like Felicity to be able to start taking piano lessons. Hopefully one day it will be more feasible to include those things, for now we’re making do with what we can do at home. I’m glad school has been a fun experience for Felicity so far, I really want both girls to have a great love of learning.
Jeff worked Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week for The Girls and did a delivery on Saturday. This helped out since work was a little slow for me this week. The girls and I stayed home on Saturday and cleaned up the house and did some yard work. We removed some weeds and did some trimming. I collect about thirty jalapeños from our one plant, they’re pretty hot and we have plenty to share as I pick about ten a day! Saturday afternoon we had cousins Ashlynn and Warren over for a sleepover. The kids had pizza on the back porch for dinner and then went swimming. We had the Bryson’s over for some games and the kids had a blast playing. It was a lot of fun.
Felicity is giving her first scripture in Primary today and is very excited. We practiced at the microphone this morning so she would be comfortable. She’s going to do it all by herself, memorized, since she can’t read yet. I’m so proud of her. She’s not at all afraid of speaking in public I hope it goes well. It’s amazing to see which traits the kids pick up from me, which they pick up from Jeff, and which are completely their own. Children are amazing; I can’t imagine not being an integral part of their lives. Nothing could keep me from my children. Felicity is such a loving and obedient girl, she’s not afraid to stand up for what’s right, even surprising me sometimes. Helen has so much energy and is always willing to give the best hugs and kisses, she too is so smart and articulate. We are so blessed.

Watching Rainbows

What a great week! I made sure to put in extra hours this week so that I would have Friday off, it made for a tiring work week, but we had several fun adventures too which made up for it entirely. Monday we had Family Home Evening and we went to the Tucson mall to walk around and play at the play ground. The girls had a ball. I also started a conversation with a random stranger just because I noticed she was deaf; a very nice woman there with her granddaughter. Arlo probably thinks I’m crazy, but I love having opportunities to chat.
The estate sale company only had one sale this week so my mom was off most of the week. Tuesday after work she came and picked Felicity up for a sleep over at Nana’s. When I got home from work Jeff and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to spend some special time just with Helen. We took her to dinner and she hadn’t said anything about Felicity; Helen had been napping when Nana picked her up. I asked Helen, “where’s Felicity”? She took a quick look around the restaurant and then said nonchalantly, “she’s in the car”, and continued to eat. We asked her where she wanted to go and gave her some choices, she picked the mall again, so we drove back to the mall and walked around and pet the puppies in the pet shop and played in the play area. She had so much fun. We got her an ice cream cone from McDonald’s on the way home, which she really enjoyed as well. Jeff said that she slept in until 8:30 the next morning, confirming our suspicions that Felicity is the early riser and wakes Helen prematurely each morning.
We had some good storms this week too. The backyard is so green and the garden is doing well. The girls have liked watching the storms come in, they are completely unafraid of the lightning and thunder which is great; I don’t think I could handle irrational screaming. Although, on Thursday night, Helen came to our door at about midnight; she knocked gently, when I answered she asked that I fill her cup for her. After I filled the cup and sent her back to bed, something scared her on the way back to her bed. She came running back to our door in a panic and banged her fists against the door. I let her get into bed with us. A few hours later I woke with a crick in my neck to find that Helen, both cats, and Felicity had taken advantage of our open door and climbed into bed with us. I cleared the room at that point, but Helen was still too afraid to get back in her bed, so I laid with her, she never did go back to sleep. The next night when the girls were getting ready to go to bed, Felicity climbed into Helen’s bed. She said “come on Helen, I’m going to sleep in your bed with you so you don’t have to be afraid”. She is such a loving child and her ability to anticipate the feelings and needs of others is just amazing to me. Helen willingly got into bed with Felicity and we never heard another peep. I’m so proud of Felicity.
Friday we took the girls to the water park. My mom went with us and we all had so much fun. The girls had received free tickets from the summer reading program and we had a coupon. They played for awhile in the kid’s area and Helen, being the dare-devil she is, loved the slides. We then ventured over to the wave pool. That was the best, both girls, fearlessly walked out into the pool till the water was under their noses and dove into the waves, jumped into the waves, and let them push them back to the “beach”. They had so much fun. We left at about one to go get lunch and Helen had a quick cat nap there and back and then they stayed for another couple hours after that. We went back and forth a bit between the kid pool and the wave pool, mostly enjoying the wave pool. Nobody managed to get sunburned! The girls have such great skin, they are both just as tan as can be. The girls napped all the way home and we had game night with the Bryson’s.
Saturday morning, we got a call from the estate sale company. They had told Jeff they didn’t need him, but mistakenly. So he rolled out of bed and unexpectedly went to work. I cleaned the house up. When Jeff got home we had a picnic upstairs and played a video game together as a family. We had a great week and are really going to enjoy relaxing and recuperating today. I’m subbing in Felicity’s sunbeams class today, so that should be interesting! I just feel so blessed. We’ve been so happy and things, even though certainly not perfect have been going so well. The university said that currently the engineering department is reviewing Jeff’s application, which leads me to believe that he’s been accepted at the University, we’re waiting for the college of engineering to accept him; if they don’t he can attend the university with an undeclared major and as long as he does well in his first semester he can reapply to the college of engineering. We’re fasting today that it will all go through smoothly and he will receive his financial aid quickly and start school the week of the 23rd. We hope everyone has a wonderful week.