how did we live before the internet?

Seriously, what did any of us do before Google and the internet? It is 4 PM and I just figured out to cook for dinner...and I realized after I started that I'm one ingredient short (Lipton dry onion soup mix)... I don't want to go to the store, so what do I do? Google it and find a recipe for it. I have the 3 items on hand, so my problem is solved.

Want to find ways to make practicing sight words with Michelle fun? I google it and find tons. Need to know what "fast mapping" is? Google it...and then get more info from my friend Shannon who is a speech language pathologist. Have some ravioli that I want to cook in a new and different way. Look for some recipes online. Don't know the meaning of a word and can't find my dictionary (or the word starts with r and for some crazy reason my dictionary doesn't have the whole r section!), look the word up online. Seriously, how did we live before this amazing invention? And these are the more trivial things. Using the internet, I keep in contact with friends and family all over the globe. I store and share photos. I blog and record these silly musings, memories and moments in time. What an amazing invention this is! Well, I better get back to that dinner I'm cooking.... Enjoy your time on the internet.

our cute crawler

Gabrielle has been scooting around on her belly for weeks. And she would do push ups over and over and then rock, but couldn't quite do the combined arm and leg movements together to crawl. But on Wednesday, she pulled it together and crawled a short distance. Each day she has gotten a little better and she can now crawl across the room. Watch out world, here she comes! It won't be long until my sweet baby is running! (so sad and exciting!) Interestingly, what motivates her to crawl is almost always food. (Sometimes toys will interest her enough to crawl, but usually she rolls or scoots to them... crawling gets her to her food. She loves to eat!)



Here she notices the Cheerios and gets into crawling position.


Here I come!


Moving forward...getting closer to those cheerios.




Almost there... the next photo I took (but I didn't include it on this post) shows her stuffing a couple of cheerios in her mouth.

sisterly love

There are definitely challenges as a parent, but there are also some sweet moments. I love watching the relationships between my three girls. Michelle and Ella are truly best friends (which comes with some arguing, but less than might be expected.)


The girls adore their baby sister. And the feeling is obviously mutual. Look at these sweet photos of Michelle holding Gabrielle and Ella helping Gabrielle sit up.

field trips/

This was a fun week for us. I went on two field trips. On Thursday, I took a half day off to go on Ella's preschool field trip. We started the day by going to McDonalds for breakfast and letting Ella play for awhile (after dropping both of her sisters off at the babysitter's and school). Then we went to Sweet's Candy Factory for a tour with her preschool class. It was fun to see how the different types of candy were made and to sample some of the candies. Ella did not like wearing the hair net though. I think it was good for her (and for me) to have a little one on one time. I think we need to do that more often. She was so excited to have me stay home with her and do things with her.

Then on Friday, I left shortly after school ended so I could go on Michelle's after school program field trip. (Fridays are short days and at least once a month her after school program takes a field trip. I usually have to stay at work and plan for the following week, but I worked hard this week to be ready so I could go with Michelle.) We went to the Classic Skating/Fun Center in Sandy. The kids had a great time going in all of the bounce houses and slides. They tried skating but none of the kindergartners really knew how. It was fun to get to know her friends better and to watch her having so much fun. She told me over and over this weekend, "I love you, Mommy, because you came on my field trip with me."

On Saturday, one of the preschoolers in Ella's class was having a birthday party. So we headed to Jungle Jim's for the party. Ella started off really shy. She was so happy to see Bryce and Sylas and to ride several rides with them. Then she was ready to ride more rides and play some games on her own. She was really happy that she was invited to Kiana's party.

While Ella, Gabrielle and I were at the party, Alfredo took Michelle out to lunch and spent some time alone with her.

In other big news, Alfredo put the trampoline back up last weekend and the girls have spent hours this week jumping on the tramp. That's the first thing they do every day after getting home. They love their trampoline!

100 things

I got this from my friend Stefanie's blog. Thought it might be kind of fun to try.
These are 100 things everyone needs to do before they die. I am at 48 out of 100 (just like you Stefanie, but lots of different ones! :)).
Everything I have done is in bold. Things I do not want to do are in italic. Things I have not done yet are regular. (things with a star are things I haven't done yet, but really want to.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii**
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland /world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (I don't sing well!)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning(sure wish I hadn't!)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (I've been there, but not walked to the top!)
18. Grown your own vegetables(I'm no good at this!)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (I think I did, but it may not have been a total eclipse, so I won't count it...it was in high schol)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
t31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise **
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors(some of them at least)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (sort of..not fluent so again I won't count it)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke(again, I don't sing well)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa**
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling**
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China*
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen *
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching **
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp **
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (for how long? I had some of my favorite childhood toys until a few years ago, but they are all gone now!)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
l71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (been on a motorcycle as a kid...but it wasn't speeding)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book **
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem**
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. <Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee<
100. Read an entire book in one day

hooray! it's st. patrick's day! (and teeth)

We didn't do much for St. Patrick's Day. But I did dress the girls in green and braid green ribbons into their hair. And I made cupcakes with green frosting. I took a picture but I looked at it and thought, what a boring picture. There is nothing exciting about the cupcakes other than the color green. I thought about making green eggs and ham for breakfast, but decided my family probably wouldn't eat green eggs. :) But here are a few pics of our St. Patrick's Day outfits.

Gabrielle is so excited to try to feed herself. (And her first two teeth are coming in! They are still just little white spots on her gums, but they are definitely coming! And speaking of teeth, Michelle lost her second tooth and 3 more are loose.)
In this photo she is reaching to grab a couple of cheerios.

Success! Cheerios are in her hand.

Hooray! The cheerios are now in her mouth! Look at her celebrate! Doesn't she look delighted with herself. What is especially great is that I really was just snapping away and these 3 shots were in order, the process of getting Cheerios into her own mouth.



Ella in her St. Patrick's Day outfit.

fun in the car

Michelle and I spend an hour to an hour plus in the car each day. I've begun to hear the refrain "I'm bored" fairly often. So I've been trying to make it fun. Here's what I've come up with so far...I would be happy for any suggestions.

We play the ABC game. You know the one. You look for each letter of the alphabet on signs, license plates, etc.

We play "I Spy with my little eye". One person finds something and gives a brief description and the other person tries to find it.

Since in math she is learning all of her shapes and solids in English and Spanish, we practice finding things that are various shapes and solids. She is amazed at how many rectangular prisms there are. Cones are much harder to find.

We play rhyming games where one person gives a word and we take turns thinking of other words that rhyme. Or we will think of a letter of the alphabet and list words that start with that letter.

We listen to music and sing along. I haven't really tried listening to books on CD with her, but maybe that's something I'll try.

We have a DVD player so sometimes she watches a video. Or play her Leapster. Some days we just talk about her day. (Well, every day we do that. But sometimes she is more talkative than others. Some days she wants to "do something". And really, I figure she has been in school all day and then in after school program for an hour or more. I'm sure the last thing she wants is to then sit in a car for 30-45 more minutes. So I try to oblige.) And I feel like it is fairly quality time with her. We have some good talks and laugh and try to enjoy the time together. But I'd love any other good ideas of how to occupy the time while I"m driving.

7 months

Gabrielle's doctor cancelled her six month checkup so we finally took her this week...on her seven month birthday. She is now 16 pounds, 1 ounce and 26 1/4 inches long. Littler than most of my friend's babies the same age, but bigger than either of my other girls were at the same age. She has just about outgrown her 6-9 month clothing now. She is about 60th percentile in height and weight.







She is still a delight, but she has recently developed a little bit of a temper. You DO NOT take her toys away from her. It makes her mad. You SHOULD share your food with her...or else, she gets mad. It is kind of funny to hear her angry cry/wail, since she has cried so little since she was born. But she is still an incredibly good baby.

It won't be long until she is crawling. She pushes up and rocks back and forth but doesn't quite move. But she scoots backwards everywhere (and ocassionally gets stuck and gets mad) and rolls all over the room. She is growing way, WAY TOO FAST!

Also, I love this little outfit. It has little giraffes on it and the buttons in the back are little giraffes. Today was her last time wearing it... it is getting too tight and a little short and is probably not comfortable any more. I aso love the pink and brown combination. She has had several outfits with pink and brown, including these cute pajamas, which she has also pretty much outgrown.

great deals

I went grocery shopping today. A major shopping trip. And I saved a lot of money. Take a look at these photos. I bought 4 cases (24 cans) of canned fruits and beans. I bought steak, chicken, ground beef, lots of fresh fruits and veggies, yogurt, cheese, eggs, cereal, lots of pasta, rice, toilet paper, laundry detergent, and a number of other items. What do you think this cost me?





I asked Alfredo and he is absolutely no fun. He guessed a hundred bucks. This from the guy that can spend $70 on a couple bags of food. His second guess was closer. My combined total at 2 stores was $250. This was a lot of food. But I saved a lot of money. I think Smith's is overpriced, so I don't really buy into their "you saved" amounts, because I would usually shop at Walmart, but according to Smith's I saved $29 on food I paid $50 for. The rest was from Macey's from their case lot sale. And I probably would have saved a little bit more (not much) if I'd brought coupons, but I forgot them today.

I saved this money thanks to a great website called Deals to Meals (formerly myfoodstoragedeals.com). It is awesome. Carin and Aly have also posted previously about this great website. For $4.95 a month,they compare all the ads and tell you what the best deals are. Then they give you recipes that use primarily items that are on sale. They tell you where to shop and stock up. They tell you it can save you hundreds each month.

Now, I have been a member for almost 2 months, and it is great. I have been price matching at Wal-mart for years. And so it isn't saving me hundreds, but it is probably saving me $75-$100 per month, and may save me even more in the long run. But even better is that it is saving me so much time. In the past, I would search all the ads, see what was on sale, make my list with each price written down, then look at recipes, add to my list, go to Walmart, check the advertised prices against their normal prices and then separate my groceries into things being price matched and things that aren't. It usually took me an hour or more to prepare to go shopping and then an hour to an hour and a half to shop. And I found that most canned goods were usually cheaper at Walmart than even the advertised prices (although not always) so to save time, I got to the point that I would just check prices on produce and meat. This website takes almost all the prep time away from me. I love it! I've really beefed up my food storage by only increasing my grocery bill about $50 in two months. And pretty soon, I will already have most things on hand and won't need to do as much shopping...except for perishables. Their philosophy is that you should never buy things full price. Pretty cool.

So I know that this all sounded like a sales pitch, and I didn't mean it to. Michelle had a couple of friends over when I got home and they seemed to think I was crazy for taking pictures of my groceries, but I got so many good deals. I got enough steaks to provide dinner for us (and lunch the next day for Alfredo and I) three times. Enough chicken for 3-4 meals. Enough ground beef for about 5-7 meals...depending on what I make with it. And a year's supply of several fruits and beans (kidney, black, garbanzo...). Hooray!

family math night

Tonight was my school's annual family math night. It was so much fun. I haven't been able to go the past 3 years, but I helped out tonight. We had about 75 or 80 families attend. I had half of my class there, which I thought was great. We had estimation jars where families could guess how many items were in the jar. Then there were about 15 different math games. Each teacher ran one game and families moved around and played them. Then each family left with one copy of each game so they can play them again at home. There were easier games for the younger kids and harder ones for the bigger kids...and many of them could be modified for different ages. Each child also got a ticket and there was a drawing for a bunch of different prizes (mainly board games that also reinforce math skills.)

My game was the array game. It is a fun game to reinforce multiplication. Basically, you roll two dice which becomes your multiplication equation. Then on the game board, you draw an array to represent that number (4 boxes across and 5 boxes down... then draw a rectangle around it 4 x 5 = 20). You write the equation and total in the middle. Lots of fun. For little kids, we had them add instead and circle the total. For really little kids, we had them count the numbers on the dice adn then circle that many circles on the gameboard.

There was a bingo game with shapes, a game to learn more about polygons, a sock sorting game, a money game, a subtraction target game and several more.

What a fun (and hopefully beneficial for our students!) night!

tumbling

Michelle and Ella just had their last tumbling class. They've been going to Granger High School for a Granite Peaks community ed class for the past 6 weeks. They have both enjoyed it, but Michelle has especially liked it.
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from class. I took my camera once and took 2 terrible shots. It totally distracted Ella and so I decided not to bring my camera anymore. After class, at home, I had Michelle show off all that she had learned. Ella didn't want to play. So here are a few shots of Michelle:


Michelle has been trying to learn to cartwheel with little success until tonight. She finally, mostly, got it. She was so excited and pleased that she figured it out.



The teacher had them practice balancing on one leg. Michelle was a super star at this, by far the best in the class. She can probably beat me at it. She told me earlier today, "I could balance for 100 years."



Ella hates to do somersaults, but Michelle likes them. Ella always tucks her head at first and then tenses up, arches her back, straightens her neck and just can't do it, even with help. She isn't at all afraid of trying to cartwheel, but she hated to even try to somersault. Maybe when she's a little older she'll learn, if she wants to.

Ella's favorites are backbends and handstands. She also really liked to do leapfrogs and walk like a spider (arms and legs straight out). She doesn't really like to stretch.



Michelle got quite good at doing the crabwalk. THat is a good/tough exercise. I did this along with the girls a couple of times during their second class and was so sore the next day. But with a little practice, I got better.



Both girls enjoyed doing leapfrogs.

oh, please don't swallow that!

Gabrielle has a new "trick" with her pacifier. She flips it sideways and pulls it almost all the way into her mouth then sucks vigorously. (If you look close, you can even see the drool dripping out of her mouth.) The first time I saw this, about a week ago, it scared me quite a bit. I thought she might inhale it the way she was sucking on it. Silly girl. It always starts out in her mouth normally but then sometimes she pulls it in farther so you have this:




Also, she puts everything, everything in her mouth now. She can't quite crawl yet, but she scoots and rolls everywhere, so we have to be super careful not to have anything little on the floor. And, she wants to eat everything, everything we eat. I'm trying to carefully introduce as many solids as I can so that she can soon start eating what we eat. She still doesn't have any teeth, but she gums things very well. Soon we'll be past the baby jars of food and on to regular food. She is growing way too fast. So far, she LOVES carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, peaches, and bananas. She likes rice cereal, pears and applesauce and thought squash was okay. She did not like chicken with chicken broth at all, but she'll eat it if we mix it with carrots or sweet potatoes.

too cute

Ella was on a hat kick this past week. She wanted to wear her Old Navy hat nearly every day. I think she is adorable with her hat on.

terrible threes

I don't know why people call it the terrible twos. I really think three is much harder than two. But I had a mini-epiphany this week. My Ella is a sweet girl, but she can be a handful. There are moments that she really challenges us and wears on our patience. I was thinking about this a few days ago and wondering if it was a) just her age, b) her own personality, c)something I'd done wrong, or d) all of the above.

The answer: e) probably all of the above plus the fact that in many ways she has had a difficult year. I worried a lot about how Michelle would react when Ella was born, but I guess this time I have been pretty busy thinking about how I would handle another baby. So a couple of days ago, it just hit me that part of her terrible threes are probably a reflection of the changes to happen in her little life this year. Michelle, her very best friend and playmate, started school and is no longer with her all day long. Gabrielle was born. Alfredo changed jobs and works Monday through Friday. Previously, he'd always been home with the girls 1 or 2days a week. And then in January, she changed from the only babysitter she knew to a new babysitter. That is a lot of changes for a little girl of only 3 (almost 4) years old. It doesn't excuse tantrums or bad behavior, but it has given me more empathy for her and patience to deal with it.