Will you marry me?

Today, out of no where Parker says this:
"Mom, I can't marry you."
Me: "Why?"
Parker: "Because I'm almost 29 and I don't have a black suit."
Me: "Well, actually you can't marry me because I'm already married to dad."
Parker: "But, I want to marry you."
Me: "I know, but I'm already married."
Parker: (with much attitude) "Then I'm gonna marry no one."

Tenting it!

Labor Day weekend we usually go camping, but this year that didn't happen. Instead, Phil set up his little tent down in the basement for the kids to sleep in. Man I love these kids!

No More Training Wheels!

Gracie and Parker have asked us to take their training wheels off their bikes about 3 or 4 different times, but every time they have chickened out and wanted them back on. I was starting to think they'd never ride with them off. But the other day Parker came in and asked me to take his training wheels off again, so I did. He got on his bike and INSTANTLY took off. I couldn't believe it! YAY!
Gracie couldn't let her little brother show her up! She kept trying and trying and finally the next day she did it! She learned on Parker's bike because it is smaller and easier for her. A few days later though, she was able to ride without the training wheels on her own bike.
It is so fun to watch them cruise around. It's like a new freedom for them! They are having so much fun!

Chase @ 1 Month

Well we are 3 for 3. Poor little Chase has colic and acid reflux just like his brother and sister did. Luckily his acid reflux doesn't come with the vomiting though. We have been giving him Gripe Water (which you can get at the pharmacy) and a prescribed Zantac. I have also stopped eating chocolate, broccoli, cauliflower, spicy foods, and dairy (because I'm nursing). It's so sad to see him in pain, so I'm glad that between all of these attempts he seems to be doing a little better.

Tootsie Rolls are made of...

According to Parker,
"You roll up chocolate then get the blow dryer and blow dry it until it's hard."

I couldn't resist!

Chase...aka Chasie...aka Chaser

Chase's 1st Bath

(Okay, he didn't just barely get his 1st bath, it's just taken me a few weeks to post this.)
Chase HATED it! He screamed the entire time. Poor little boy!

Gracie-isms!

When Gracie was a toddler she'd say the most hysterical things. If I had this blog back then we'd have lots more hilarious Gracie-isms. Here are a couple of recent ones though.

8-23-09
Gracie and I were talking about school and making friends just as I was tucking in her bed. She has had a hard time making friends at school because she said she is shy and is scared to talk to kids. Here's what she told me:
"I'm shy on the inside and try to be brave on the outside. I start walking up to kids and then I stop and turn the other way because I'm too shy."
We had talked for quite a while and so I felt like we said all we needed to say about the subject so I go to kiss Gracie goodnight and leave, but she grabbed my arm to stop me and said, "But wait Mom, I still want to discuss this." (Did my 6 year old honestly just say that?!)

9-3-09
Today at school Gracie's teacher talked to her class about vandalism and that if the kids vandalize the school they'd get in big trouble and not be able to come to school anymore (as Gracie put it). Gracie then told me directly after that that when she went to the bathroom at school she used very little toilet paper. (At this point I was thinking what do those 2 things have to do with each other.) I asked her why and she told me because she didn't want to vandalize. I asked her what she thought vandalism was and she said using too much toilet paper.

Oh Gracie, you're so cute!

Parker's 1st day of preschool

Parker is attending the Shalom Lutheran preschool this year. We will miss Miss Alisha and pray that this preschool is a positive experience for him just as Kinder-Tots was. Most of the preschools here are put on by different denominations. His preschool will teach some type of Bible story or theme each day. This week he learned that Jesus loves me and to love one another. Parker has already made some friends there! When I asked him about his friends he said that one boy has an earring, but he's still his friend and that he only has one friend that's a girl because all the girls are "a little bit too cute."

"But my mom only knows how to make peanut butter sandwiches."

On the 2nd day of school I sent Gracie a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. It's Gracie's favorite sandwich and what she took nearly every day to school last year. Well, later that day I got a call from a friend from our ward that works at the school. She told me she thought she should call me and tell me what happened to Gracie today. My heart instantly sank into my stomach. In her words she said Gracie's lunch was confiscated while she was eating it. I guess Liberty is a "Peanut Free School" which means no peanut butter or things that contain peanuts or anything that MAY contain peanuts because it was manufactured in a factory containing peanuts. Unfortunately I didn't know that at the time. So Gracie had eaten half her sandwich and then had the rest of it taken away from her. Gracie hates to cry in front of anyone because she gets embarrassed. So you can only imagine how hard it was for her when she started crying in the lunch room in front of everyone. She was just really embarrassed that her sandwich was taken away from her and everyone was watching. She said she had a jacket and put it over her head to hide. I guess there were a couple of women there that gave her a hug and tried to reassure her it was okay. She told them, "But my mom only knows how to make peanut butter sandwiches." I guess they made her a sandwich made with soy to eat instead. After lunch the kids went to recess and Gracie said that she sat on a bench away from the other kids because she didn't think anyone would like her after what happened. The thing is, I had to hear that from this kind friend that called and from Gracie. I didn't get a note or a call from the school to explain what happened.

Okay, this totally broke my heart! I was so upset that she had to experience that and feel those awful embarrassing and lonely feelings. I was upset at how it was handled. I really wish they would have just let her finish the last half of her sandwich and either call me or send a note home to me telling me not to send PB sandwiches. So needless to say, her first couple days of school got off to a rocky start. Phil and I tried to help Gracie and help her to learn some valuable lessons from this experience.

I know we need to teach our kids lessons to survive in the real world, but dang it's hard to have to actually see them go through these experiences in order to really teach them.

Gracie's 1st day of 1st grade

Gracie is now a big 1st grader at Liberty Elementary. A move to a new school is always a little hard on kids. Gracie has done so well at making friends so easily with kids in our neighborhood and church, but school has been a little bit of a challenge. When we asked Gracie if she made some friends on her 1st day she said that she didn't play with anyone because she was too shy. That is so hard for a mom to hear. I know it will get better for her though.

It is definitely different living outside of Utah. Of course when I grew up there were very few people in my school that weren't LDS. Here, Gracie is one of three kids in all the five 1st grade classes that is LDS. She is the only one that is LDS in her class. My biggest fear is her not being able to find friends with the same standards and values that we try to teach our kids. It's so hard when we try to teach her what is right, but then she goes to school and is faced with so much adversity that goes against what we teach. But I know that Gracie has such a strong desire to make good choices and that she is not afraid to stand up for what is right even if her friends are persuading her not to.