Chouinard Family

family photos

2010-11-17T11:22:00.001-08:00

so we had a friend take some pictures for us and they turned out fabulous--and i'm not just saying that because my family is so cute! here are some of my favorites!

i love this one! it's nice to have an updated family photo--if you'll remember the last one was taken before we moved out to buffalo!

my girls are so super cute--really can you argue?!

i love this one because it is cute and it shows off our interests.

do i need to say anything?

my little girl is not so little any more! she is becoming a beautiful young woman!

one of their better moments!

i absolutely love this one!

i love you justin!

my little sweetie!

justin and his girl!

riley's favorite mode of transportation!

one of my favorites!

we chose this spot for pictures because it is one of our favorite parks in the buffalo area. glenn park in williamsville has a gorgeous waterfall, the river is wonderful and they have a farmer's market every saturday during the summer. the park is on the site of an old mill. we love this park and thought it represents what our family loves about western new york!

thanks carolyn!

i give up!

2010-10-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

The one time i try to upload images to update my blog the image uploader is down!

oh well--i can still wish my sweet daughter a happy birthday!

i love you valen--and as soon as i can i will post your pictures!

rain, rain, go away!

2010-10-08T05:04:00.000-07:00

When too much rain makes you desperate!

Friday Fun

2010-05-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

This is what Justin and Valen do together if you leave them alone, unsupervised and with several packages of sculpy clay.

two posts in one day! unheard of!

2010-05-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

last weekend uncle luke came to visit from washington and he wanted to go to niagara falls. since we have been to the falls several times and have tons of pictures of us in front of the falls--and since none of the pictures of us with uncle luke turned out very good--i thought i would post some fun pictures of us at the falls, just not in front of the falls.

riley found a great hill to roll down and spent quite a bit of time doing so. she had grass and weeds and all sorts of stuff in her hair and grass stains on her NEW pants when she was done, but she had a great time!

i think they had more fun doing this than looking at the falls, AGAIN!

a picture to prove that black squirrels do cross the boarder! here we thought all this time that black squirrels live only in canada.

GOAT FARM

for the past several weeks we have been getting fresh goats milk from a local farm and making cheese out of it. we decided that we wanted to meet the goats that produce the milk for our cheese and our friends graciously took us along for the trip. riley had a great time looking at all of the animals. she wasn't so sure about touching them or getting to close to anything other than the cat, but she had a fun time anyway.

one of the more fun things was watching the little baby goats eat!

For those of you who have no faith in my blogging abilities!

2010-05-23T20:01:00.001-07:00

so i told myself at the beginning of the year that i would be awesome at blogging. . . well you can see how well that has turned out. i wanted to blog every day, then it became every other day, then i settled for once a week, now it's looking like it might be once a month. but then i tell myself the only reason that i started blogging was so that those family and friends who are thousands of miles away can see pictures of our girls, so i don't feel too bad because i just took these pictures.

first day of "summer"
the weather was so beautiful the other day and we couldn't resist pulling out the swimming pool.

i love this picture because riley looks like she is in a juice box commercial!

cuteness with chocolate chip cookie on her face.

riley and miles having a great time!

the joys a hose brings!

i'm really hoping that we have more nice days and that we actually have a summer this year!

Chouinard Family Fun

2010-04-06T05:15:00.000-07:00

So we have a lot of fun events as of late. I was having trouble with the camera, so it has taken me a while to post these, but here they are:

Kazoo Museum in Eden.
We went to the Kazoo Museum in Eden, NY with the play group last week. The museum itself was small, but Riley enjoyed looking at all of the different types of kazoos. She also really liked the gift shop, and being with her friends.

Here she is making her own kazoo.

It was difficult to take pictures and help Riley make her kazoo.

Here is the finished product. Riley was an expert by the end of the day.

It was a fun trip. I would suggest catching it when the corn festival comes in the fall.

Dyeing Easter Eggs:

We aren't huge into eating hard boiled eggs, so we only dye a dozen eggs each year--in fact we haven't eaten any since Easter--so they dyeing process is quick. If you blink you miss it, but we had fun. This and carving pumpkins are one of Justin's favorite things to do.

Justin gets just as involved as the kids and always thinks out and plans his egg--the girls get the majority of the eggs--very carefully.

I'm sure that here Valen is telling Riley what to do. Riley is pretty stubborn, so I'm not sure if she did what she was told to do.

We all had fun and turned out some really great looking eggs!

The Chouinard's Attempt to Plant a Garden:

We decided that we were finally going to attempt to plant a garden. Because we live in student housing we can't actually use the ground to plant a garden. And because we are cheap it has taken us several years of dumpster diving to get enough planters to make gardening worth it. We'll see if it works!

Riley loves digging in the dirt, and the fact that she got a new Dora shovel and permission to do so made it all the more sweet!

Valen wasn't as sure that this was her thing. She had fun planting her flowers, but then lost interest. I'm not sure gardening is her thing.

Justin was quite excited to finally get to do this. I just hope it works. We both come from ranching families, but neither of us know how to do the outdoor garden thing.

Easter Egg Hunt:

After planting our seeds, we had an Easter egg hunt outside for the girls. Our "backyard"--which is really a shared backyard with all of our neighbors--is fairly big, so we had a lot of room to work with, which is good because we had a lot of eggs!

I keep telling myself that Valen is too old to do this sort of thing, but I think she had more fun than Riley did!

Riley was crazy! She would run one direction, find a few eggs, and run clear across the yard to get a few more, and then switch back the other direction. I don't think she got very many eggs, but she sure got a lot of exercise!

Easter Morning:

The girl's made out pretty good this year--three movies a piece!

Valen has been a bit obsessed with Star Wars lately and I found a sticker book. She was a little excited.

Valenism

2010-03-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight at dinner Valen tells me she wants to be an oceanologist.

"That's an oceanographer."

"No mom, I don't want to take pictures, I want to study the ocean!"

WHAT!?!

2010-03-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

I found my first grey hair this morning. . .

Valen's First Meal

2010-03-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

For one of her Faith in God requirements Valen had to help plan, prepare and serve a nutritious meal. She was very excited and enjoyed the planning process. She was only a little frustrated when I kept modifying things for her--such as telling her that she needed a whole grain pasta because white pasta doesn't count as nutritious. I bought all of the groceries and she helped make the meal. She spent the afternoon in the kitchen with Justin making dinner. On the menu was an organic whole grain pasta with organic locally bottled sauce; steamed organic broccoli--without cheese sauce; organic fruit kabobs and organic multi-grain bread. The meal was followed by a Family Home Evening lesson on following the Word of Wisdom. We talked about what foods are good for our bodies; what foods are a sometimes food and what things do not belong in our bodies at all. For dessert we had: brownies, ice cream, fudge topping and whipped cream--none of it low-fat or organic, because, like Valen says, "Sometimes my body needs sugar Mom."

Way to go Valen!

Film Performance

2010-03-21T19:11:00.000-07:00

It was my privilege last night to attend one of Justin's film performances. I usually don't get to go because of babysitting issues--they usually start late at night and go into the wee hours of the morning--but last night it started and ended at a time that was manageable. He was one of two film/video performances. He performed one piece--"Valen in the grove"--and presented another--"The Sound of Crickets." It was really neat to see him perform in front of an audience and receive positive feedback. I'm amazed at how far he has come creatively and how much talent he has. I love the field that he has chosen and the direction that he is taking with it. I decided last night that if his career involves nothing but smaller performances and film festivals I would be completely happy. I don't need red carpet premiers to enjoy what he does for a living.

*Total bonus! He got paid for his performance! He is now a professional artist!

Check out the link to the event:
http://www.justbuffalo.org/index.php?task=view&id=60&show=493

You remind me of the babe. . .

2010-02-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

the girls and i are in portland, oregon for the next few weeks and one of the first things we did was go to a theater, for free--thank you uncle dannon--and watch labyrinth! i have waited 25 years for this and it was well worth the wait! it was awesome! riley thought it was fun, but scary in some parts. valen liked it, but i think she got a little bored--she was crawling around on the floor at one point. for all of you out there that have the opportunity to, i highly recommend the experience!

Magic Number

2010-02-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

Valen is learning multiplication in math, and this week are the three factors. Need I say more?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxmKRyLdBho

Multi-Mushroom Stroganoff

2010-01-27T17:37:00.001-08:00

So we had this for dinner last night and I was greatly impressed. I love stroganoff, but without using meat we haven't a recipe that tastes good, until this one! It is definitely worth a try!

~3 T olive oil
~1 pound mushrooms (such as porcini, shiitakes or oysters) sliced
~3 scallions, sliced
~2 garlic cloves, crushed
~2 T dry sherry or vermouth
~salt and ground pepper
~1 1/4 C sour cream or creme fraiche
~1 T fresh marjoram or thyme leaves chopped
~fresh parsley, chopped

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the mushrooms gently, stirring them occasionally until they are softened and just cooked.
2. Add the scallions, garlic and sherry or vermouth and cook for a minute more. Season well.
3. Stir in the sour cream or creme fraiche and heat to just below boiling. Stir in the marjoram or thyme, then scatter the parsley on top. Serve with rice, pasta or boiled new potatoes.

I highly recommend using the mushrooms it suggests. I couldn't find any porcini, but found the others. They are meaty mushrooms and help add a lot of flavor to the dish. ENJOY!

Birthday Surprise

2010-01-20T16:49:00.000-08:00

for some crazy reason i got it in my head that it would be fun to celebrate the "milestone" birthday's for my siblings and their spouses. we've done fun little things like sending 35 of something each month for a year; or begging people to donate money for 30 DVDs; and other such things. well, it's my turn to turn 30. since i am the organizer of all of these events, i didn't expect much from my siblings this year. . .but oh how wrong i've been. for the past ten months they have been taking turns sending me 3 or 4 letters--as in from the alphabet--that i am supposed to put together and figure out what it is they are getting me for my birthday. some of them have been fairly straight forward like letters cut from a magazine or construction paper, or stickers. some were sent to me on postcards. others in plain or creative emails. one was even sent on a university of wyoming student government hand towel--i'll tell the story behind that one later. but the one today is the one that prompted me to post this. i got a box of tea:

the scarlet letter--which i've been wanting to read:

this coloring book:

and a note saying i should be able to figure out the letters based on the objects! when i showed them to justin he just laughed--he's in on the surprise. i'm having a fun time with it all, but am really frustrated at the same time! how am i supposed to figure this out?! justin told me he would help, but not until i get all of the clues. i love my siblings, but they are driving me crazy! i can't wait until april so i can get this figured out--and it better be good!

on the bright side, i can now take a hot bath, have tea and read a good book!

Niagara Aquarium

2010-01-18T17:23:00.000-08:00

All of us had the day off so we thought we would go somewhere fun, but close to home. We have never been to the Niagara Aquarium, and we had a coupon and wanted to do some other fun things in that area, so we went.

More than the sharks themselves--which we saw during feeding time--Riley enjoyed playing in the shark cage. She kept getting "caught" between the bars and asking one of us to "save" her.

Justin hates these kind of pictures, but the girls love them, so he obliges. We spent quite a bit of time in this part of the museum looking around, eating and waiting for the sea lion show--which rocked! This is also where Riley found her new friend. Her and this little girl spent quite a bit of time running around, chasing each other, screaming and yelling. Riley was really sad when we had to leave her friend to have lunch.

I'm not sure how this one happened!

This is us attempting a picture, but SQUIRREL!

We had a great time at the aquarium. Our favorite part was the sea lion show. The girls also enjoyed the stuffed animals they got--thank goodness for left over Christmas money. Justin was a little taken aback at how much they cost, and was a little shocked that I was letting the girls spend so much money on them, until he found out that it was their money, he felt better after that. Valen got a penguin and Riley ended up with a seal--she named it squirt after the sea lion we saw at the show.

After leaving the aquarium we headed over to the outlet malls for some fun and shopping, but not fun shopping. I am of the opinion that if you don't have to pay full price for something, you shouldn't. So our entire trip today was based on coupons. We had a buy one get one free coupon for the aquarium and whenever we use those they always take the child's price off, which upsets me. So, I had Justin purchase the adult tickets, to ensure that we got the second adult ticket free, then I purchased the children's tickets--Riley was free and we got a dollar off Valen's ticket using our AAA card!

We had a great time at the mall with our coupons. We had coupons for a free scoop of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, a free Auntie Anne's pretzel and a free cookie from Subway. What a great snack and what a great way to load our kids up on sugar! Then we did a little shopping--all great bargains of coarse--and came home. It was a great--and inexpensive--day!

oh, so funny!

2010-01-16T14:41:00.000-08:00

Justin has a couple of websites that he spends--or as i call it wastes--a lot of time. Every once in a while he comes across one that is particularly funny:

sorry if you can't see it, but squint, it's worth it!

this one is just too good!

Rileyisms

2010-01-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

Some of the cute things that Riley has said or done in the past few days:

~Riley has been super obsessed with princesses lately. She has to wear a princess dress every day. There is one inparticular that she is fond of--pink with white polka dots. This dress was dirty yesterday and to help console her--for it was a great tragedy--I picked out an everyday red dress. At first, this seemed to please her. But once she got it on she twirled around a few times she suddenly dropped into a crying heap on the floor. When I asked her what was wrong she looked up at me and said, "Mom it's not a princess dress, I not a princess." Apparently the dress didn't have enough material to make a large twirl, and therefore did not qualify as a princess dress.

~As many of you know, I collect Pez dispensers. Riley and I were looking through them the other day, when she picked up the Death Star--for those that are not Star Wars fans it is a little planet shaped ball--and said, "Look Mom, a Bakugan!" and threw it across the room. For those of you that don't know what Bakugan are--they are small balls that pop up into little robots that you fight with during a card battle. One of the ways to get them open is to throw them. Bakugan is Valen's new obsession.

~Riley was watching James and the Giant Peach. During one of the songs, James sings about himself in New York City, and calls himself by name several times. Riley was singing along with the song as best she could. The best part was when James would say his name, Riley substituted her name instead. It was hilarious listening to her call out, "Riley, Riley, Riley isn't it a lovely day!"

What a cute little helper

2010-01-14T18:10:00.000-08:00

For Christmas my step-mom made the girls and I the cutest aprons in the world. Whenever I pull out a cookbook, Riley is at my side wanting to help, just so she can wear her new apron. As you can tell from the following photos she loves her apron, but is boycotting clothes.

You might be able to tell that we were baking with chocolate, which of course requires sampling.

She was born to pose and loves getting any type of picture taken.

Riley's First Build-A-Bear

2010-01-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

So we've been to Build-A-Bear more times than I can count, but Riley has never actually stuffed an animal herself. She has a bear from the time that Valen stuffed her one--when Riley was just a few days old--but she has never done it herself. Everytime we go into the store she gets excited to play with everything, but never gets into the idea of stuffing an animal. But we are usually with Valen who is super crazy at the store and tries to shove everything in Riley's face, so we thought we would make a trip when Valen was in school.

This is the bear that she picked. Justin tried to talk her out of it--he thought it was the ugliest one there. He liked the wolf much better.

She really liked all of the buttons and how they lit up. She was really into the whole process--kissing the heart, jumping up and down, rubbing it on various body parts and the like.

We thought she would spend more time grooming her bear since that's usually what she does when we go into the store for Valen, but this bear may still have had some unwashed parts when we left.

This is Riley at the computer. She was more excited about that then anything else; she couldn't wait to press all of the buttons.

Not a very great picture, but with all of the people walking by and Riley anxious to get to the gumball machines, this was the best we could do.

When we told Riley that we were going to Build-A-Bear she was very excited and insisted on going upstairs to her room and getting her piggy bank down. When I told her that she didn't need to get money from her piggy bank and that I had her Christmas money from grandma, she insisted that she had to get money. She came downstairs with a penny in her hand, and very carefully put it in her pocket. When I asked her what the money was for she looked at me and said, "I need a gumball mom." I wasn't sure what that meant until Justin explained to me that there are gumball machines across from the store and they always get a gumball after going to the store. I think Riley was more excited about getting the gumball than the bear, so in honor we named the bear Gumball.

a new year's resolution

2010-01-11T18:05:00.000-08:00

i haven't actually written down my resolutions this year, but i have stated out loud that i am going to try to be better at blogging. i can't tell you how many people are constantly saying, "well, did you put it on your blog?" i can't promise anything amazing, but i will try harder.

so one of my new favorite obsessions right now is getting good shopping deals. being college students--still--makes our budget tight. being an eco-nerd--is that a word--makes shopping a challenge, so when i find a good deal i get excited. my new favorite website is: www.hip2save.com

i highly recommend signing up for their newsletter. i have gotten so many good deals and i love it when my savings is higher than my total.

riley quote for the day: Dad! She's dropping babies!

I found myself

2010-01-10T19:17:00.000-08:00

so this past month has been an interesting one. if i were to take the time to write everything i would be here all night and i really want some time to watch the next episode of Lost. so i will just hit the highlights.

we made it through the first part of December with little or no problems. we were excited for the Christmas season. we decorated the house, finished shopping, made christmas cards and planned our treats. then disaster struck. about the second week of December i got hit with an extremely bad case of vertigo that literally left me bedridden for two weeks. after several days without improvement i went to the hospital hoping to find relief. all they did was confirm that i had vertigo and pump me full of all sorts of drugs, which did nothing for me. although justin tells me that valium makes me do funny things--thankfully nothing will be posted on youtube. after getting out of the hospital i went to several different doctors and found out that in addition to the vertigo i also had a hernia, which he put back into place for me--not a fun experience. i slowly got to the point that i could function by myself--up to this point justin had to help me do EVERYTHING. the poor guy had a lot to deal with. at one point, not only did he have to deal with me, but Riley had a double ear infection and Valen had the stomach flu. i don't think justin ever wants to deal with throwup again. by Christmas i was mobile and self sufficient, but not really better. we did have a wonderful Christmas morning. this was Riley's first Christmas where she understoond what was going on and was excited for presents. we don't do santa at our house, nor do we use wrapping paper--two subjects for another post--but she was excited for each present and was a little put out when we finished. then she realized she got to open each of the packages and boxes and play with the toys inside, and that took the rest of the day. Saturday morning Justin took me to the airport and i flew, by myself to Utah for my brother's wedding.

travel log: buffalo to detroit--flight was short and did not cause me to throw up. i was able to eat and keep down an expensive smoothie and bagel. detroit to kansas city--some trouble getting back on the plane, but again the flight was good and no sickness. kansas city--flight was cancelled so i had to stay the night. i also found that i lost my wallet with identification and debit card, which meant that i had to cry to the security guards to let me get through security. i did get to stay in a nice hotel all by myself and had two free meals. my step dad teased me when i told him that i ate a hamburger for dinner. i told him that since i didn't drink all the stress of my drove me to eat meat. kansas city to salt lake: a good flight, again without sickness.

i had a great time in salt lake and it was wonderful seeing my family and watching my brother get married--i only cried a little bit.

the trip home was uneventful--unless you count the delays i experienced in detroit, but i made it home safe and sound.

for New Years we had some wonderful friends from Salt Lake/San Francisico visit us and celebrate the new year.

now with valen in school and justin preparing to go back to school reality has settled in and we are slowly getting back into a routine--mean mom undoing all of the fun nice things that dad did while i was sick and gone.

as i said before it has been crazy but there are several things that i have taken away from this experience:

~i am grateful for a husband that was willing to drop everything to take care of me and the kids.
~i am thankful for summer graduation.
~i am thankful for all of those that helped us out while i was sick. i was amazed at how many people were willing to help us--babysitting, dinners, flowers, hospital visits, get well cards, phone calls, thoughts and prayers just to name a few.
~i am thankful for my health.
~i LOVE my cell phone, weekend minutes and texting
~i love seeing and reconnecting with friends and family.
~i LOVE food--the weight loss was nice, but eating is better!
~i really do enjoy being able to clean my house.
~i am grateful that the Lord teaches us through disappointment, trials, heartache and sadness. it makes all those happy moments that much sweeter.
~i am grateful for the detroit airport and their lost and found services, and the honest person out there that found and returned my wallet and made it possible to find myself twice in one trip.

I wish I would have brought my camera. . .

2009-11-21T19:20:00.000-08:00

So Thursday night, or should I say, early Friday morning, was a very interesting time. It was around 12:30 a.m., and I was just headed to bed. The girls were asleep and Justin was on his way home from the school. Just as I lay down Riley started screaming and coughing. I ran into her room to discover her sputtering like she had just thrown up. I climbed into her bed to check for throw up, but couldn't find any. She continued to cough and her breathing was very labored. By this time, Justin had come upstairs to help me. He had turned the hall light on so we could see better. Neither of us could figure out what was causing her to have such labored breathing. Then, Justin picked up her sippy cup--it is a small Thermos with a plastic straw. Justin noticed that the top had been chewed off. I asked her if there was something in her throat. She opened her mouth and then began to claw at her throat. She still couldn't breath very well, and Justin and I began to freak out. He went downstairs to get a flashlight to check her throat. When we realized that wasn't going to work, I suggested calling an ambulance. We pulled her out of bed and took her downstairs to watch a movie until it came. By this time we were frantic and she was calming down. She wanted to lay down, but we told her she had to stay sitting up. We didn't want to risk having her choke on whatever was in her throat. When the paramedics arrived they checked her breathing and agreed with us that there was something in her throat, and that she needed to go to the hospital to have it checked out. So Riley and I got on the stretcher and they put us in the ambulance. The driver asked us if he could use the lights and the sirens. I told him sure. He was afraid the sirens might scare Riley, but the exact opposite was true, she thought they were awesome. She liked looking around the ambulance and thought the little finger monitor was cool. She liked the little red light. She was somewhat disappointed when the ride was over. They took us in the hospital. By this time Riley was completely calm and her breathing was somewhat normal. It was still a little off, but she was doing much better. In fact she was chatting and pointing out interesting things. They took us into the waiting room, since it no longer looked like an emergency; she was thrilled when she saw the TV. There was no rush to get us in anywhere, which was fine with Riley, she liked watching the George Lopez Show. She was a little upset when they took us into our room. She brightened up rather quickly when she saw a get well balloon in the room. "Look mom, happy birthday to me!"
For the next several hours we sat in the room watching the Disney Channel, which was exciting because we don't get that channel at home. Several nurses and/or residents came to check on her and decided that she needed and x-ray. She loved the elevator ride up to the room, but was not excited about the x-ray machine itself. When we walked in the room the machine was resting on the table. The technician moved the machine up and then moved the table up. I told Riley that she had to lay down on the table so that the big camera could take her picture. She yelled in response, "No mom! I don't want it to squish me!" I explained that she wasn't going to be squished, she was just going to get her picture taken. She didn't like the idea of me leaving the room either, but she made it. After another exciting elevator ride, we went back to our room to resume our TV watching. By this time I was exhausted and Riley was totally wired. She was running around our room, balloon in hand, and going crazy. Finally, the doctor came in and told us that the x-ray was inconclusive, because if she did swallow a plastic piece it wouldn't show up on the x-ray anyway. So her diagnosis was that Riley had croup. She said the only way to test the theory was to give her something to drink. If she could drink it, then it was croup; if she couldn't drink it, she had something in her throat and they had to put some fiber optic something or other down her throat to check things out. So, they offered her the juice. Riley was so excited for that juice box. She drank half the box in one gulp. The doctor concluded that it was in fact croup and recommended a steroid to help the swelling in the throat. When the lady that we hadn't seen before came in to give Riley the medicine she noticed that there were pictures of cake on Riley's pajamas. She asked Riley if she liked cake and if she would share a piece of cake with her. Riley "took" a piece of cake from her pajamas and gave it to the lady. Several minutes later the nurse showed up. When we first got there, Riley wouldn't even look at him, but when he came in and said that he wanted a piece of cake too, Riley wasn't sure what to do. She looked at me and then down at her pajamas and found a Popsicle and "gave" that to him. He ran out of the room yelling, "See, I told you she would give me something too!" Shortly after that we were discharged. We called Justin for a ride home. They had taken us to Women and Children's hospital, which for those that know where we live, is a good twenty minutes from our house, so we had awhile to wait. Riley and I sat by the automatic front doors and waited for him. Riley was still pretty wired, even though it was approaching 4 a.m. She would run past the door, which would open, laugh and then run over to me. When Justin finally showed up he drove right past the doors. We ran outside to wave him down. I was afraid he hadn't seen us and was going to keep on driving. Riley started crying and said, "No daddy, come back. I want to go to Riley's house!" Then we realized he was just turning around.
Riley talked the whole way home and told Justin about her balloon, watching cartoons and riding in the elevator. When we got home I told Riley that she had to go back to bed. She said she wasn't tired and didn't want to. She wanted to play or watch something downstairs. Again, she insisted that she wasn't tired. I told her to climb in bed and try to sleep. Thankfully she slept until 11:00 a.m.

Even though this was one of the longest nights of my life, and I was afraid that some terrible thing had happened to my daughter, I still found several moments that seemed magical in a way: my first ambulance ride, which I got to share with Riley; watching Riley run around her hospital room in her pajamas and rain boots, with the balloon in hand singing "Happy Birthday;" watching her excitement with each room we went into--"Look at THAT mom!" All of this made me realize how great my life really is and how grateful I am for the things I have and oh how I wish I would have brought my camera to capture it all!

p.s. the only other time that we went to the emergency room with one of our children was when Valen stuck a peanut up her nose. she later sneezed it out and there was no harm done. apparently my children don't know how to have a real emergency. . .thank goodness!

Pictures of Fall

2009-11-03T17:10:00.000-08:00

We decided that we needed to take to opportunity of the beautiful fall colors and take some pictures of the girls. We went to the Amherst State Park. If you live here and you haven't been, I highly recommend it. It is set in front of an old monastery. There is a set of really cool stairs in front of the building that are really old and neat looking. We thought this would be the perfect place for some pictures. We were not disappointed.

This is our picture we took to capture the beautiful fall colors.

I swear I have the cutest girls in the world!

These are the steps. They look even better when adorned by two very cute girls.

This is one of my favorite pictures. It's moments like this that make me enjoy my time as a mom.

I love this picture because it shows Valen's cuteness and Riley's inability to focus more than three seconds.

This is their model pose.

Valen was trying to school Riley on how to pose properly. I think it worked!

Every time I look at this picture I can't help but laugh. I think Valen is sneezing, and I'm not sure what Riley is doing, but she looks kind of evil and it's just hilarious! I think this picture more than any of the rest of them capture the true nature of my girls!

Yellow Balloon

2009-10-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Grandma Doreen,
The other day while Mom and I were shopping, Mom got me a yellow balloon and I was very excited. However, when we got outside and I tried to hand it to Mom, she accidently let go of it. At first, I was upset and I cried. But then, Mom pointed out that my balloon was headed toward a flock of geese. I think the flock of geese caught the balloon and began to head in your direction. I don't know how long it takes for geese to fly from here to Wyoming, but when they get there will you make sure that you get my balloon. I'll get it from you the next time I see you. Thanks so much.

Love,
Riley

P.S. Mom took me to the store again yesterday. I got an orange balloon. This time I held onto it.

Another Inspirational Thought

2009-10-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

Highlights from the October Ensign

Blessings of the Temple

By Elder Robert D. Hales

The primary purpose of the temple is to provide the ordinances necessary for our exaltation in the celestial kingdom. Temple ordinances guide us to our Savior and give us the blessings that come to us through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Temples are the greatest university of learning known to man, giving us knowledge and wisdom about the Creation of the world. Endowment instructions give guidance as to how we should conduct our lives here in mortality. The meaning of the word endowment is "gift." The ordinance consists of a series of instructions on how we should live and covenants we make to live righteously by following our Savior.

Couples who maintain strong and vital marriages:

First, these couples know individually who they are--sons and daughters of God. The set eternal goals to once again live with our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. They strive to leave the ways of the natural man behind.

Second, they know the doctrine and the importance of the saving temple ordinances and temple covenants and their necessity in achieving eternal goals.

Third, they choose to obtain the eternal blesings of the kingdom of God rather than the temporary possessions of the world.

Fourth, these couples realize that when they are sealed for time and all eternity, they have chosen an eterna companion--their days for courting others are over! There is no need to look any further!

Fifth, these ccouples think of one another before themselves. Selfishness suffocates spiritual senses. Communicating with the Lord in prayer, they grow together and not apart. They converse with each other, thereby never letting little things become big things. They are willing to apologize and ask forgiveness if they have hurt the one they love. They express their love for each other and become closer. The lift and strengthen one another.

We voluntarily came from the presence of God the Father to this mortal probations with agency, knowing we would have "opposition in all things." Our objective is to take upons us the whole armor of God and withstand "the fiery darts of the wicked" with the shield of fatih and the swaord of the Spirit, to endure to the end, and to be worthy to stand and live in the presence of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, for all eternity--to achieve what is called eternal life.

Truths and Lies

By Jenifer Nuckols

President Boyd K. Packer said, "Restoring what you cannot restore, healing the wound you cannot heal, fixing that which you broke and you cannot fix is the very purpose of the atonement of Christ."

Spiritual Thought of the Week

2009-10-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

Lessons From Liberty Jail

by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

~. . . you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experiences with the Lord in any situation you are in. Indeed, you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experiences with the Lord in the most miserable experiences of your life--in the worst settings, while enduring the most painful injustices, when facing the most insurmountable odds and opposition you have ever faced.

~. . .every experience can become a redemptive experience if we remain bonded to our Father in Heaven through it. These difficult lessons teach us that man's extremity is God's opportunity, and if we will be humble and faithful, if we will be believing and not curse God for our problems, He can turn the unfair and inhumane and debilitation prisons of our lives into temples--or at least into a circumstance that can bring comfort and revelation, divine companionship and peace.

~. . .when we promise to follow the Savior, to walk in His footsteps, and be His disciples. we are promising to go where that divine path leads us. And the path of salvation has always led one way or another through Gethsemane. So if the Savior faced such injustices and discouragements, such persecutions, unrighteousness, and suffering, we cannot expect that we are not going to face some of that if we still intend to call ourselves His true disciples and faithful followers.

Justin's Birthday

2009-09-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

i know i have posted this before, but now that it is getting closer, i thought i would post it again. i am trying to collect 30 dvd's for justin's birthday this year--he's turning 30. by babysitting and through the help of others i am up to 22. if there is anyone out there who is interested in helping me reach my goal by september 30th--his birthday--i would greatly appreciate it! i really want to make this year special for him and making a dvd library that he is proud of has made him very happy. he gets very excited each time he is able to claim that he owns a certain movie or box set; or when he can show something in class and doesn't have to borrow it from the department at school.
again, i would appreciate any help that anyone is willing give!

i know i'm begging, but what are friends and loved ones for!?!

life lesson. . . i think

2009-09-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

The other day Riley wandered into the bathroom while i was using the facilities. she noticed me opening a tampon and asked me what i was doing. so i explained to her what it was and what i was doing, which i assumed made no sense to her whatsoever. the next time i was in the bathroom she wanted to help me open the tampon. today she found one in my purse and came to find me. i didn't understand what she wanted and thought it was her that needed to go potty. when i asked her if she need to go potty she said, "no, mom, i all better. you go potty." she then held up the tampon, "here mom, you use it." while i sat there laughing, she opened it and held it up to me. i told her that i didn't need to go potty, but she held it up and insisted. she then began to play with the tampon and realized that it was covered in cardboard piece, and tried to pull it out. once she got it out, she began to pull it apart. after several more minutes, in which she mutilated the tampon, she insisted that i go potty. again i told her that i didn't need to go. "yes mom, you go potty." finally i obliged. while sitting there, she handed me the pulled apart, waded up tampon and told me to use it. i told her that i didn't need it, but thank you. she then sat there for a moment, looking at it, and then threw it away. i would say that she learned something about life, but i'm not sure what.

Oh, Riley

2009-07-23T20:07:00.000-07:00

I know I have posting a lot about Riley, but she has been funny a lot lately.

Riley likes to twirl anytime that she gets into a dress or skirt. Last night, after her bath, I put her "dress" pajamas on. Before she would let me comb her hair she had to twirl around for me. Every time she twirls around it is mandatory for someone to tell her that she is gorgeous, so of course, I did. "Yes, Mom, I'm beautiful. I'm a princess."

Head, shoulders, knees and. . .nipples?!

2009-07-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

This morning we were invited out to the playground to play with Molly and Anna Eccles. While getting ready to go out, Riley, who has been obsessed with this body part lately, lifted up her shirt to point out her nipples to me. Then she pointed to Justin and said, "Daddy has nipples." Yep, Daddy has nipples. "Mommy has nipples." Yep, Mommy has nipples, too. "Molly has nipples." She then lifted up her shirt again, pointed out her nipples and said, "Riley show Molly nipples." We then explained to her that, yes, Molly did have nipples like Riley, but no, she couldn't show them to Molly. To say the least, she wasn't thrilled with this answer.

Thank you Sponge Bob

2009-07-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

Riley had to go to the bathroom during Sacrament Meeting today. She loves going to the bathroom because she gets to get up, run around, get a drink and because the bathroom echoes when she yells. I try to keep her reverent, but it doesn't always go so well. After choosing a stall--which can sometimes be a lengthy process--we went in and I asked her to pull her panties down. Her response was, "Ay ay captain!" After finishing, I asked her to wipe, again her response was, "Ay ay captain!" I"m beginning to think that our day of cartoon vegging may have been to big of an influence!

strawberry picking

2009-07-06T19:04:00.000-07:00

here we are picking strawberries at greg's u-pick.

riley and i at our picking best!

valen inspecting her most recent pick.

i'm not sure what my thought is on this strawberry, but it tasted good when we dipped it in chocolate.

a good harvest and a good time!

riley

2009-07-06T18:08:00.001-07:00

so my excuse for not blogging lately has been that our camera broke. once we got a new one we didn't know how to format the pictures correctly. now that i have let justin work out all of the kinks and figure things out, i can post stuff once again!

here is riley enjoying a hot dog BUN at valen's frienship day.

here we see not only riley's cuteness, but also justin's amazing photographic talents. i once told justin that we need to take more pictures of him, but he told me that in an artistic sense you can see him.

here is riley enjoying a store bought packaged brownie. i know, i know what you're thinking, but it was a special occasion.

here is riley enjoying a bath.

riley is enjoying the new camera almost as much as justin is. every time we pull it out, she insists on taking a "smile," and then seeing it afterward.

Simple Quinoa and Wild Rice Pilaf

2009-03-23T17:45:00.000-07:00

This one has quickly become a favorite around our house. It is simple and packed full of nutrition and protein.

Simple Quinoa and Wild Rice Pilaf

~ ½ C wild rice
~ 1 C quinoa
~ 1 vegetable bullion cube
~ 2 T butter or margarine
~ 2 scallions, thinly sliced
~ salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. Combine the rice with 1 ¼ C water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
2. Add the quinoa, bouillon cube, and 2 C water. Cover and simmer gently until the water is absorbed, 15 minutes.
3. Stir in the butter and scallions. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Smoothies!

2009-03-06T14:25:00.000-08:00

I needed to type these up for a friend, so I thougt I would post them. They are from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook--one of my favorite cookbooks.

Sunshine Smoothie
~ 2 ripe bananas, broken into several pieces
~ 1 C pineapple juice
~ ½ C orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed
~ 1 C lemon or orange yogurt

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smoothly pureed.

Cinnamon Apple or Pear Smoothie
~ 1 ripe banana, broken into several pieces
~ 2 medium soft apples (such as Cortland or Golden Delicious) or ripe pears, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
~ 1 C vanilla yogurt
~ 1 C apple juice or apple cider
~ ¼ t ground cinnamon

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smoothly pureed.

Nutty Chocolate-Banana Smoothie
~ 1 large banana, broken into several pieces
~ 1 ½ C chocolate milk (chocolate soy, hemp or almond milk works well too)
~ 1 heaping T peanut butter or cashew butter

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smoothly pureed.

Hope you enjoy!

Justin's Movie List

2009-03-02T16:52:00.000-08:00

so i thought i had better put Justin's movie list here, just in case anyone is interested in helping me reach my goal of 30 DVDs.

The Following are part of the Criterion collection, which he prefers
~Touch of Evil director's cut
~Complete Monetery Pop Festival (3 disc set)--cheapest at criterion.com
~Ikiru
~The Seventh Seal

The following are from Kino films, which he prefers
~The Last Laugh (deluxe edition)
~Avant Garde-20's and 30's
~Avant Garde-28-54
~L' Age d'or

~Peter Tscherkassky compilation--www.index-dvd.at/en/program/008/index.html
~Yellow Submarine

several of these have multiple discs and each disc counts toward the total. the criterion collection can be found at criterion.com and the kino films at kino.com. amazon.com is also an option for the others. if you would rather contribute money, i'm willing to take that as well. i thank all of you in advance for your help and willingness to celebrate justin's birthday and his love of movies.

Hearty Seitan Salad

2009-03-02T10:56:00.001-08:00

Several people have requested that I share vegetarian friendly recipes with them. Instead of emailing them separately, I've decided to put the recipes up on my blog. So when I find a good recipe or try an old favorite, I will try to remember to post it.

Hearty Seitan Salad

~1 pound seitan--this can be found in the refrigerated section of the health food section or you can omit this if you are unsure about it
~1 T light olive oil
~1 small head dark green lettuce, thinly sliced
~1 medium green or red bell pepper, cut into narrow strips
~2 medium firm ripe tomatoes, diced
~1 medium avocado, sliced
~1/4 C sliced black olives
~2 scallions, sliced, optional
~dressing

1. Cut the seitan into strips, about 1/2 inch by 2 inches. Heat the oil in a wide skillet. Saute, stirring frequently, until golden, then remove from the heat.
2. Combine the lettuce, bell pepper, tomatoes, avocado, olives and optional scallions in a mixing bowl and toss together. Add the seitan strips and enough dressing to moisten the salad, and toss again. Serve at once.

Here is the dressing that we used:

Tangy Tahini Dressing
~1/2 C extra-virgin olive oil
~1/4 C sesame tahini
~2 to 3 T apple cider vinegar
~juice of 1/2 lemon
~2 T natural soy sauce
~1 t dried dill

Combine all ingredients in a tightly lidded bottle and shake thoroughly. Shake well before each use. Keeps up to 2 weeks, refrigerated.

*We put the dressing on each individual portion.
*We also put the whole thing in whole wheat wraps and added fresh cut veggies to round out the meal.

Cooking School

2009-03-01T07:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday for Girl Scouts, Valen and her troop went to the Tops Cooking School in West Seneca. The girls had a great time watching the mirror over the counter and helping make the food.

Valen got to help chop the celery--with a plastic knife--for the chicken noodle soup.

I'm not quite sure how well the celery got chopped with a plastic knife, but she seemed to be having a good time doing it.

They also got to make banana muffins and mini personal pizzas. This is Valen shaping her crust. She was very methodical in saucing her crust and putting on the cheese and pepperoni.

This is Valen enjoying the fruits of her labors. She was especially glad to eat the pepperoni since we don't get them at home.

She had so much fun at the cooking school, that when I told her we were having pizza for dinner, she insisted that we buy mushrooms so that she could make her own pizza again.

Bicycle Museum

2009-03-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we went to the Bicycle Museum in Orchard Park. It wasn't quite what we expected--not sure what we were expecting--but at first Valen and Riley were very unhappy. Riley wouldn't let me put her down and she was screaming the whole time. After a few minutes we made it to this game and it was like magic:

Valen thought the game was cool--you paid $1 and the guy gave you 3 enlish pennies to play the game because it wouldn't accept anything else.

When Riley saw Valen playing the game, she wanted to play it too, and then she calmed down and let me put her down, and she actually started looking around at things.

At first, Valen was unsure about getting up onto the bike, but once we convinced her it was safe, we couldn't get her down.

Although Riley had calmed down quite a bit by this time, she really did not like the idea of me being up on the bike. She screamed the whole time I was up there. The guy that owns the museum even came back to make sure that everything was OK.

Justin. . .

We had a great time after all was said and done. I think the girls had the most fun in the gift shop area, but all in all it was really neat.

Valen's poem and non-boyfriend

2009-02-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

~There wasan ice cream social at her school—Heritage Heights—tonight. Justin stayed home with Riley, while Valen and I went. She took off first thing to go play in the gym while I waited in line for the ice cream. Then, after eating the ice cream quickly, she headed back into the gym for rock climbing and stilt walking. She did really well with both.

Then it was time for the dancing. Valen really didn’t dance too much, she was spending most of her time with boys playing chase. One of the boys that she was playing with—Darrian—has a crush on her pretty bad. His parents told me that he randomly yells out that he loves Valen, and was heartbroken one day when he found out that she liked someone else. She played with him and Alex. After Darrian left, Valen and Alex hung out quite a bit. By the way that they were playing I could tell that there were some shared feelings between the two. When I confronted her about liking him, she just grinned at me. “But,” she informed, “he is NOT my boyfriend.”

Darrian is the one in the middle, Alex is on the right.

Valen got to read the poem that she wrote at school in AM Program today.

My Dad

My Dad is nice as three mice.
He is a sweet treat for me.
He has a smart heart in the family.
He is super duper.
He shares and cares like a bear.
He is helpful and caring.
He is friendly and courageous.
My Dad!

Mid Winter Recess

2009-02-20T18:14:00.000-08:00

Valen had the week off from school and we tried to pack in as much stuff as possible. So here's a run down of our week:

~Monday--Valen got to hang out with Justin for the day at school and be his lighting model. Then she tested for and got her Green Belt in Karate. Riley loves going to Karate and playing out on the mat so much that she will invent a poopy diaper and need to changed--the bathroom is on the opposite side of the mat from where we sit.

~Tuesday--A catch up day from everything I didn't do on Monday. Although Valen did have Activity Days and Riley did have her music class.

~Wednesday--A day at the beach!--inside a shopping mall:

This is Riley surprised that I actually managed to catch up to her.

Valen and some of our friends. Hold still Jane!

I even fed my kids fast food! We had a pretzel, cheeseburger, and ice cream for lunch!

Riley being cute!

Valen also went to her first Sparring class for Karate. It was great watching her beat up other little kids and not get in trouble for it.

~Thursday we went to the Buffalo Science Museum:

Riley enjoying the boat sailing exhibit.

Valen putting a dinosaur puzzle together.

Yet another puzzle--this time with human bones.
This room is the one that I have a hard time getting my kids to leave--it contains most of the hands on exhibits. Riley likes the messy exhibits, as well as the live ones--"The bunny tickled me Mom." And Valen likes all of the games and puzzles and the ants.

~Friday--We went to Riley's new preschool class and had lots and lots of friends come over and play.

Somewhere in there we saw Justin a few times, watched a few movies--High School Musical 2 and the new Veggie Tales--ate out a few times and hung out at home a little bit.

All in all, it's been a great week! Can't wait till spring break!

Picture Princess Contest

2009-02-08T07:20:00.000-08:00

Valen, age 8

Valen has natural beauty. She has piercing blue eyes and an amazing smile. She loves showing the worl how beautiful she is. She is very confident in herself and knows that she is special. She has a heart of gold and finds the good in everyone.

little girls and girls dresses from shabby baby

http://www.shabbyapple.com/p-92-botanical.aspx

Riley, age 2

Riley is the cutest two year old in the world. She has a perfect button nose and beautiful eyes. She is full of life, love and laughter. She loves taking "smiles" and being in front of the camera and showing the world how cute she is. She is very tender hearted, happy and loves life.

little girls and girls dresses from shabby baby

http:///www.shabbyapple.com/p-79-china-doll.aspx

The Past Ten Days

2009-02-01T19:52:00.000-08:00

Instead of blogging about all of these separately, I thought I would put them all together, and not necessarily in order.

Art Day
These are my little artists hard at work. We were making a birthday card for Valen's friend, and Riley wanted to join in the fun.

She had brushes, paper and cups of paint in the beginning, but we ended up just squirting the paint directly on the paper and using fingers.

Another look at the master hard at work. The cool thing about it was her asking for specific colors and telling me where to squirt them. I would suggest a color and she would tell me yes or no, and then tell me exactly where to squirt the paint.

This is Valen decorating the bag for the birthday present. She had more fun mixing colors and seeing what the outcome would be. She wasn't real focused on a design or picture, just color experimentation.

Riley's masterpiece.

This is Valen at the birthday party--for which we made the card and colored the bag--at Page's Party Paradise. She got to climb the rock wall, play games--her favorite being skee ball--and a game of laser tag. She was on the blue team and told me that she won the game because she shot the red teams target. She has requested that we go play laser tag again so that she can show me how to win.

Leaps N Bounce

On Saturday we decided to take the kids to Leaps N Bounce in Williamsville. Riley was absolutely obsessed with the slide. I think we set a new record of 40 slides in 20 minutes. She had a hard time climbing up to go down the slide, but after several runs she learned how to do it all by herself. She also insisted that she go down the slide all by herself. She was very good at going down the normal feet first, but when that got a little old, she was willing to try head first.

At the end of the day she was trying to go up the slide.

It's not a good picture, but this is me and Riley at the top of the slide watching Valen go down. Inflatable objects make it hard to take pictures.

Again, not a good picture, but this is Valen's "I'm having a good time" face. She really did have fun, I think she was upset that we were leaving.

Sun Day--or in other words, a Sunday with sun.

It was finally sunny today, and so Justin and Valen had to take advantage of it and play outside in the snow. This is Valen's snow bunny--my favorite part is the tail on the behind.

I'm not sure, but it might be a warrior bunny, maybe that's why it's holding the stick.

This is Justin's snow centipede--would that be snowtipede--and Valen's warrior bunny.

SNOWBOARDING!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-19T17:47:00.000-08:00

So we finally got to go snowboarding this season. Justin and I took Valen to Kissing Bridge resort on Monday. At first, we decided that we should just stick to the bunny hill. But once we saw the bunny hill, Valen told us that she would be fine on the "mountain." So, off we went!

I would have to say this is my best picture ever!

Valen is one of the most natural snowboarders I have ever taught. She kept pointing her board down the mountain and taking off. She fell a lot, but got right back up and kept going. I was amazed at how easy it was to teach her and how well she did. I thought it was going to be a lot harder, but she did amazing.

After each run, Justin and I tried to talk Valen into going into the lodge and resting, but she kept insisting on just one more run. We finally had to stop because our tickets expired.

Even though she is sore and got a few bumps and bruises, she is already asking me when we can go again.

I will have to say that I really wasn't expecting much, as far as the resort itself goes. I am used to Utah powder, and I was afraid of what we wouldn't be experiencing. But, it snowed almost every day for two weeks, and that made the snow pretty good. I would have to say, I am impressed with New York snow, this time around. The "mountain" was small, but the resort wasn't busy, the snow was good, and the fries were delicious!

A Day in the Life of Riley

2009-01-08T18:00:00.000-08:00

Riley actually woke up earlier than usual this morning and since I had to clean the floors this morning I let her watch Pokemon—“Watch Pikachu Mom.”
Then Justin, Riley and I ran errands. We went to the film department office to ask a question. One of the ladies that works there offered Riley some bite size Oreo cookies. Riley thought she offered her the whole container and eagerly grabbed it, and would not let go. We tried to explain to Riley that the lady was sharing the cookies and only meant for her to have two, but Riley had a death grip on the container. After several attempts, we had to get intense. I held Riley while Justin pried her fingers from the container. She was crying like crazy and had spit mingled with Oreo goo dribbling down her chin. I felt bad for her, but it was so funny I couldn’t help but laugh.
We had to go to Wegman’s for some groceries. Riley was still upset about the cookies and therefore crying while we walked into the store. But as soon as she saw the car carts, all was forgotten. She yelled out an excited, “Woohoo!” and climbed in. On our way to the registers we found a stand of Pez dispensers and found four that I do not have and so grabbed them. I thought it would be fun for Riley to hold them. She thought it was great and proceeded to open one of the packages, “Mom, Pez!” We had to give the cashier what was left of the package and explain.
This afternoon Riley and I were playing when she decided to do the train puzzle—a book with a story about a man that drives a train, each page has a puzzle with a picture from the story. Her idea of “doing” the puzzle meant that she took ALL of the pieces out from every puzzle and then looked at me and said, “Do it Mom.” Thankfully the puzzle pieces are color coded so that you can tell which pieces go to which puzzle. She helped me separate the pieces out according to color, and told me which color was which. And as soon as I would get done putting a puzzle together and show it to her, she would tear them all out again. So after putting them all together for the third time, I took the book and hid it.
Each time we change Riley’s diaper, we give her the opportunity to sit on the toilet. Lately I have been offering her the chance the wear the Little Mermaid panties that we bought several months ago. Usually she has no interest in them, but tonight she asked to put them on. So, I put them on her and then explained that she couldn’t go potty in the panties and had to tell me when she needed to go potty. I asked every few minutes for quite a while if she needed to go potty. Each time she told me no. When it was time for dinner, she stood up and where she had been sitting on the floor was wet. I took her into the bathroom and told her that she needed to sit on the toilet because that is where we go potty. She screamed and cried and told me she didn’t want to wear panties anymore, she wanted to wear a diaper instead. Apparently all of that work staying dry took its toll.

Movie Review

2009-01-07T07:12:00.001-08:00

During the school break Justin wanted help doing "research," so we watched several movies. I thought it might be fun to critique them:

~Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull--let's just say that I will be sticking to the classic Indiana Jones movies, of which I am a big fan.

~Once--we had some friends reccomend this one, and it was really good. It's a modern day musical without all of the big dance numbers--which I do enjoy every now and then--but the music is well written and the story was enjoyable. I will say that the movie ended the way it was supposed to.

~Bella--if you like Juno, this may not be for you. But if you are like me and thought Juno was entertaining, but unlike real life, then you would like this addoption story better.

~The Happening--I would have to say that this is not M. Night's best movie. I have enjoyed watching his other movies, but this one was a little over the top for me. When we watched the bonus features and he mentioned that he was out to make the best "B" movie of all time, it cemented my feelings of dislike. You don't purposfully create a "B" movie or cult classic, they are named that way after they have come out and failed with the public.

~I am Legend--I'm not one for zombie or vampire or undead type movies, but I really liked this one. I thought that Will Smith held the movie well. If I had to choose between watching this and The Happening again, I would choose this one every time.

~It Happened One Night--I'm not a huge Clark Gabel fan, but this was a good movie. The acting was good, even though real drunk people don't act like that, and I NEVER look that good when I first wake up in the morning. It's a good one if you like classics or Frank Capra films.

Lizards Hugging

2009-01-03T16:15:00.000-08:00

To preface this: we have had "the talk" with Valen, out of necessity. We had quite the in depth conversation, lasting about two hours or so, so you can imagine that she knows quite a bit. Sorry if this is offensive to anyone, but I see the innocence of youth--now on to what I really wanted to post.

As we were driving in the car Valen was looking through her animal book she got for Christmas. She came across a page with two lizards. “Look, Mom, that’s cute, they're hugging. That’s how they get sex, by hugging."

December 2008 Ensign

2008-12-30T17:22:00.000-08:00

Becoming Spiritually Whole
By Shari Phippen

~wholeness comes not from being physically perfect but from faith in a Savior who will calm, comfort, and heal my heart.

An Ability to Bear Our Burdens

“Healing blessings come in many ways, each suited to our individual needs, as known to Him who loves us best. Sometimes a ‘healing’ cures our illness or lifts our burden. But sometimes we are ‘healed’ by being given strength or understanding or patience to bear the burdens placed upon us.”
Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “He Heals the Heavy Laden,” Ensign, Nov. 2006, 7.

Riley

2008-12-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

I went upstairs this afternoon and noticed that Riley had put on a little weight since lunch.

Riley had taken several items and stuffed them down her shirt.

She was very excited to have the camera in her face and therefore made some great faces.

After a while she let us take all of the things out of her shirt and this is what we found:

She was quite proud of what she had done.

Justin was giving Riley a bath when he came downstairs and told me that there was still a hamburger patty in her pants.

Valen Rocks!

2008-12-19T12:53:00.000-08:00

CAKE!!

2008-12-10T11:05:00.000-08:00

My sister emailed me a picture of the most beautiful cake I have ever seen. It's too late for a wedding obviously, so I've decided that I want it for my 30th birthday. It's absolutely amazing, and I'm not big on cakes!! Check it out!!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_wGr8njEWjtI/SPTrWBDjVmI/AAAAAAAAAuA/iMGy1u2dvaA/s1600-h/nightmare+cake12.jpg

Riley pics

2008-12-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

We haven't done very much lately that requires pictures, that and our camera needs to be fixed, so I had to post these when our camera alowed me to use it.

This is Riley with "Orange Juice Bear." It's Valen's Care Bear, but Riley has decided that it is hers and she takes it with her everywhere. Her favorite drink is orange juice, so that might be the reason for the name.

While shopping at the mall--can you believe we were actually there?--we found some Pikachu slippers for Valen and had to buy them. We only thought it fair that if Valen got her Christmas slippers early, Riley should get hers early as well.
At first she wouldn't touch them, but once she got used to the idea of putting Elmo's head on her feet, she won't take them off. They are her "Elmo shoes."

Valen quote

2008-12-03T19:01:00.000-08:00

We were upstairs playing in the girls’ room when Valen asked me to get one of her china dolls down—it was one that Grandma Reen gave her. Valen was undressing it and told me that she had a midnight gown on. I asked her what a midnight gown was.
She said, “You know. A midnight gown, a gown you wear to bed.”
"Oh, you mean a night gown."
"Yea, one you wear to bed."

October 2008 Ensign

2008-11-19T17:09:00.000-08:00

Developing Christlike Attributes
By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf Second Counselor in the First Presidency

What are the basics, the fundamental principles of our membership in the kingdom of God on earth? After all is said and done, what will really carry us at times of greatest need to our desired eternal destination?
Living according to the basic gospel principles will bring power, strength, and spiritual self-reliance into the lives of all Latter-day Saints.
Faith is such a principle of power. We need this source of power in our lives. God works by power, but this power is usually exercised in response to our faith. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). God works according to the faith of His children.
As we strive to understand, internalize, and live correct gospel principles, we will become more spiritually self-reliant. The principle of spiritual self-reliance grows out of a fundamental doctrine of the Church: God has granted us agency.
We recognize that we are living in a time of turmoil, disaster, and war. We and many others feel strongly the great need for a “defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth” (D&C 115:6). How do we find such a place of safety? President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) taught: “Our safety lies in the virtue of our lives. Our strength lies in our righteousness.”
Individually, we need to first “follow Him,” and as we do this, the Savior will bless us beyond our own capacity to become what He wants us to be.
To follow Christ is to become more like Him. It is to learn from His character. As spirit children of our Heavenly Father, we do have the potential to incorporate Christlike attributes into our life and character. The Savior invites us to learn His gospel by living His teachings. To follow Him is to apply correct principles and then witness for ourselves the blessings that follow. This process is very complex and very simple at the same time. Ancient and modern prophets described it with three words: “Keep the commandments”—nothing more, nothing less.
The scriptures describe a number of Christlike attributes we need to develop during the course of our lives. They include knowledge and humility, charity and love, obedience and diligence, faith and hope (see D&C 4:5–6). These personal character qualities stand independent of the organizational status of our Church unit, our economic circumstances, our family situation, culture, race, or language. Christlike attributes are gifts from God. They cannot be developed without His help.
The one help we all need is given to us freely through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Having faith in Jesus Christ and in His Atonement means relying completely on Him—trusting in His infinite power, intelligence, and love. Christlike attributes come into our lives as we exercise our agency righteously. Faith in Jesus Christ leads to action. When we have faith in Christ, we trust the Lord enough to follow His commandments—even when we do not completely understand the reasons for them. In seeking to become more like the Savior, we need to reevaluate our lives regularly and rely, through the path of true repentance, upon the merits of Jesus Christ and the blessings of His Atonement.

Developing Christlike attributes can be a painful process. We need to be ready to accept direction and correction from the Lord and His servants.

Why Did the Lord Call Me?
By Kimberlee B. Garrett

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ” (Moroni 10:32).
I am strengthened when I remember that Christ’s commandment is not for me to become perfect and then come to Him. Instead, He invites me—and each one of us—to come unto Him and to be perfected in Him.

The Lord Can Ease Our Burdens
By Elder Maury W. Schooff Area Seventy North America Central Area

The Lord tests the faith and patience of His people. Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said this about trials: “[The Lord] gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain.”1
We need to trust the Lord. The Lord’s view is much broader than ours, and He has promised that He will not try us beyond our ability to withstand (see 1 Corinthians 10:13). Elder Scott said, “To exercise faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it.”2
We should not murmur. Alma’s people did not complain about their afflictions. How easy it is for us to murmur when things do not go our way! Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: “Murmuring can … be noisy enough that it drowns out the various spiritual signals to us, signals which tell us in some cases to quit soaking ourselves indulgently in the hot tubs of self-pity! Murmuring over the weight of our crosses not only takes energy otherwise needed to carry them but might cause another to put down his cross altogether.” Elder Maxwell offered this alternative to murmuring: “Being of good cheer is what is needed, and being of good [cheer] is equally contagious. We have clear obligations to so strengthen each other by doing things ‘with cheerful hearts and countenances’ (D&C 59:15; see also 81:5).”3
As you face challenges remember that the Lord will sustain you. Recognize that these experiences can polish you as you place your faith and trust in the Lord, actively practice patience, and listen to the counsel of Church leaders. The Lord has said, “Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God” (D&C 101:16).

Stand Ye in Holy Places
By President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973) Eleventh President of the Church

The heaviest burden that one has to bear in this life is the burden of sin.
If the time comes when you have done all that you can to repent of your sins, whoever you are, wherever you are, and have made amends and restitution to the best of your ability; if it be something that will affect your standing in the Church and you have gone to the proper authorities, then you will want that confirming answer as to whether or not the Lord has accepted of you. In your soul-searching, if you seek for and you find that peace of conscience, by that token you may know that the Lord has accepted of your repentance. Satan would have you think otherwise and sometimes persuade you that now having made one mistake, you might go on and on with no turning back. That is one of the great falsehoods. The miracle of forgiveness is available to all of those who turn from their evil doings and return no more, because the Lord has said in a revelation to us in our day: “Go your ways and sin no more; but unto that soul who sinneth [meaning again] shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God” (D&C 82:7). Have that in mind, all of you who may be troubled with a burden of sin.
And to you who are teachers, may you help to lift that great burden from those who are carrying it and who have their conscience so seared that they are kept from activity, and they don’t know where to go to find the answers. You help them to that day of repentance and restitution in order that they too may have that peace of conscience, the confirming of the Spirit of the Lord that He has accepted of their repentance.
You cannot lift another soul until you are standing on higher ground than he is. You must be sure, if you would rescue the man, that you yourself are setting the example of what you would have him be. You cannot light a fire in another soul unless it is burning in your own soul. You teachers, the testimony that you bear, the spirit with which you teach and with which you lead, is one of the most important assets that you can have as you help to strengthen those who need so much, wherein you have so much to give. Who of us, in whatever station we may have been in, have not needed strengthening?

Protecting Our Families in the Last Days
By Elder Richard J. Maynes Of the Seventy

In light of modern-day wickedness and social conditions so accurately predicted by Moroni, how can we rear faithful children and establish Zion in our homes? We start by realizing that it will require great effort and diligence to follow the admonition of the Lord and His prophets.
We have been taught the importance of daily personal and family prayer.
We have been taught the importance of daily personal and family scripture study.
We have been taught the importance of weekly family home evening.
Church leaders continually bring these basic gospel principles to our attention. Why? Because the Lord understands that the basic gospel principles that we strive to live each day will ultimately save our children and help establish Zion in our homes.

Gospel Doctrines: Anchors to Our Souls
By Elder Marlin K. Jensen Of the Seventy

President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has stated the principle beautifully: “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior.”
The influence of doctrine on our behavior can be great and eternally beneficial.
Perhaps that is why early in this dispensation the Lord said to the Saints, “And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom” (D&C 88:77). Because we can’t teach what we haven’t learned, an important implication of this commandment is that we must acquire a basic knowledge of gospel doctrine in our heads and hearts.
We can draw on this knowledge in moments of personal need and when we want to teach the doctrines of the kingdom to others. Our knowledge will help save us, but each of us must pay the price to obtain it. To do so we may need to get up a little earlier, stay up a little later, or consistently sneak a few precious moments for study during the day. Whatever price we have to pay, it will be worth it. A determined effort to study gospel doctrine will also have the benefit of immersing us in a prime source of that doctrine—the scriptures.
Learning and teaching doctrine to our families is the greatest service we could ever render to them or anyone else because thereby faith in Christ increases and this is the surest anchor to our souls.When we begin to internalize the doctrines of the gospel—in Jeremiah’s words, to put them in our “inward parts, and write [them] in [our] hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33)—it will not be long before we and those around us begin to notice changes in our behavior.
Perhaps the best measurement of how well we understand the doctrines of the gospel is how clearly and simply we teach them and live them. And live and teach them we must! (see Matthew 5:19; D&C 68:25). Is there a better way to tangibly express love to our families than to teach them the saving doctrines of the gospel?
When we teach doctrine, an accompanying power and spirit will carry our teachings deep into the hearts of those we teach and will bring those teachings to their remembrance at appropriate and critical times (see Alma 31:5).
we must learn doctrine and teach it. If we do so we will increasingly be found in our homes and elsewhere, as Nephi observed, “talk[ing] of Christ, … preach[ing] of Christ, prophesy[ing] of Christ, and … writ[ing] according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25:26).
Learning and teaching doctrine to our families is the greatest service we could ever render to them or anyone else because thereby faith in Christ increases and this is the surest anchor to our souls.

Girl Scout Cookies!!

2008-11-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

It is official. Valen can now consider herself a 'true' Girl Scout. Her first shipment of cookies came tonight--for those of you that bought cookies, we will be delivering them soon. She was very excited, I think mostly because we were going to have them for dessert. But I had to document this historic moment so that someday she could look back on it with fond memories. . . however

if you did order cookies from us, you may want to check ALL of the ingredients before ingesting!!

Riley's Knees

2008-11-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

Riley has this great new game she plays where she runs really fast and then jumps onto her knees. It's really cute, unless she's playing the game when she's upset, then it's not so fun. We had to get some video of her doing it because it's so great!!

Ti-Ti-Aya!!

2008-11-08T18:03:00.000-08:00

Valen tested for her Yellow Belt in Karate today. Being our first belt test, and because we were in a hurry, we didn't grab either camera--such an irony in our lives, the most important moments are never documented because we forget a camera--so we took some pictures when we got home. She looks a little evil with the red eyes, but I think she's just excited to have moved up a belt. She did really good at the test and seems enthusiastic about sticking with Karate.

These are pictures of Riley that Justin took yesterday that have no real significance other than when I was uploading Valen's Karate pictures I found them and thought they were great!

Valen's Baptism

2008-11-06T19:14:00.000-08:00

Here are the long awaited pictures of Valen's baptism. I'm sorry for all of you that couldn't make it, but thankful for all of you that did!!

Here is Valen with her beautiful hair--Thank you Talyor--contemplating the step she is about to take, or at least in the pose she was told to stand in.

Here she is in the towel that we got her. We had the towel embroidered with her name and the date on it. Some time I will get a picture of it.

Here is the lucky girl standing with a very handsome bystander who also seemed to be wearing a white jumpsuit--I hear they are very popular these days.

Here is our family photo, as you can tell. I am stressed to my max, Justin is nervous, Valen is happy to be getting so much attention, and Riley is oblivious to everything, comforted by the fact that no matter what happens she will have her bag of Trix.

This is Valen freezing and asking to dry off, but being a good sport and letting me get my mandatory wet picture.

This is my favorite picture. She looks so happy and wholesome and pure and wonderful. Here, in my eyes, she looks like a Daughter of God, full of life and love, knowing she made the right decision and knowing that He loves her and is proud of her.

This is not a very good picture of her, but as tradition dictates, we did not get a good picture of her in her white dress. An explanation may be in order. For both Valen and Riley we did not get good pictures of them in their blessing dresses. Valen was screaming and Riley was stuffed into her car seat. By the time it occurred to us to get a better picture, they had outgrown their dresses. Thankfully I am already aware of the bad picture situation this time, so we may be able to fix it in time. I do plan on being better prepared for their wedding pictures.

Again, not a very good picture, but one with Valen and all of her "loot."

Me very, VERY thankful that I made it through the whole thing without breaking down in any way--physically, emotionally or mentally.

This is our friend Lisa, who so graciously accepted our invitation to come to Valen's baptism. She is a wonderful person and we were happy to have her there.

Below is a sample of the program. It's not the actual program because I'm still learning how to use this site.

Baptism of

Garrett Jones
Zachary Webber
Valen Chouinard

Saturday, November 1, 2008
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Amherst Ward, Buffalo, New York Stake

Conducting: Bishop Lahti
Pianists: Tiffany Clegg & Erin Webber—Zachary’s Mother
Music Leader: Tara Condie

Welcome: Bishop Lahti

Opening Song: Come, Follow Me #116
Opening Prayer: Don Clifton—Garrett’s Grandfather

Talk on Baptism: Mikel Voss—Valen’s Grandfather

Baptismal Ordinance: Garrett by Neal Jones—Father
Zachary by Ben Webber—Father
Valen by Justin Chouinard—Father

Interlude: Video Presentation

Talk on Holy Ghost: Amy Jones—Garrett’s Mother

Confirmation: Garrett by Neal Jones
Zachary by Ben Webber
Valen by Justin Chouinard

Congratulations from Primary: Tara Chiapelli

Bishopric Welcome: Bishop Lahti

Closing Song: I Am a Child of God #301

Here is the video that Justin put together for the baptism.

Update

2008-11-06T18:30:00.000-08:00

Riley

November 5, 2008
We had playgroup this morning at Gantrie Boren’s house. Riley spent most of her time upstairs playing with the dishes.
After playgroup we went on several errands. Riley was very good at each store, and there were a lot of them. She was very anxious to help each time we got to a conveyor belt or credit card machine.
It was such a nice day outside that we had to spend some outside time. We didn’t even wear our jackets as we played at the playground. Riley had a lot of fun on the slide, although the first couple of times down, she wasn’t too sure about it. Once Valen got home from school the girls had a great time swinging and going up and down the slide together.
For dinner we went to the Flickinger Court Potluck. Not very many people showed up, but there was enough food to feed us. Riley didn’t seem to be very hungry—it could have been the two bowls of cereal I let her eat at 4:00. She spent most of her time running around the room and playing with the Fusball and Pool tables. When she played with the Fusball table she would turn the guys around and yell, “Ti, Ti Ayah!” At some point during the evening she lost her shoe, which didn’t seem to bother her one bit, she was still running at full speed. I went to check on her when she went into the next room, and found her with her face pressed up against the half door of the office. She was looking through the mail slot on the door.
Riley’s new favorite song is ‘Once There was a Snowman,’ so we had to sing it for scriptures and prayers tonight. She gets so excited that she wants to sing it over and over and over. I think all of the snowmen we saw when shopping today must have put her in the mood.

November 6, 2008
Riley slept in quite late this morning. By the time we got her up, dressed and fed it was almost 11:00. We hung out until Ron and Anoth came over. They followed us to the library, where we played for a few minutes before coming back home. I needed to get birthday cards made, so after eating lunch, the girls and I did lots of drawings with markers, water colors and paint. Then we moved on to the Play Dough. We also went outside for a time because it was so nice again. Riley had a great time on the slide. Every time she came down I would catch her and she would give me a kiss. When we got back inside, Riley and Anoth found the punchy balloons and went crazy. They were running all over the house, throwing the balloons up and laying on them and trying to throw and catch them. Silly, silly girls.
Riley’s creativity blows me away. As we were going up the stairs this morning she was asking me about grapes. I thought she was talking about her breakfast—eggs and toast, her favorite—and I kept trying to tell her that we didn’t have any grapes. But she was pretending that the mounts on the banister were grapes and she was picking and eating them as she went up the stairs. So now every time we go up the stairs we eat grapes along the way.

Valen

November 5, 2008
When Valen got home from school today, Riley and I were playing outside because it was so nice; we didn’t even need to wear jackets. So the girls played outside for a while on the slides and swings. Eventually we had to go inside so that Valen could do her homework and chores.
For dinner tonight we went to the Flickinger Court Potluck. Not very many people came and there wasn’t much food, but someone did happen to bring twisty pasta with Parmesan cheese, Valen’s favorite. She had three helpings. Partway through dinner, Valen had to go to the bathroom; while in there she put on a great show for those of us eating—she was singing at the top of her lungs. After dinner Valen had to go to the bathroom at the community building, again. I left with Riley, but when Justin got home he said that we need to talk to Valen about public nudity. Apparently she was hot from running around the building so she went into the bathroom and stripped down.

November 6, 2008
Today was Valen’s first day of her new reading club. She gets to stay after school with several of her friends and read books together in the library. Today they read The Magic Tree House with the camels—I’m not sure what they title of the book is. She said that they each got to take turns reading one page and then they discussed what they read. They even got snacks.
It was so nice again today that we had to go outside and play for a while.
Valen also had Girl Scouts. They finished up the “Let’s Pretend” unit by remaking their ‘Bambie’ animal masks—Valen chose to make a ‘Chimchar’ mask instead—and then acting out scenes from the movie. They also started the music unit by taking turns trying out different musical instruments and making a home made tambourine, which Valen decorated with Pokemon pictures.

The Past Two Days

2008-10-31T19:43:00.001-07:00

October 30, 2008
VALEN

We let Valen skip school today so that she could go with us to Palmyra. Our first stop was The Hill Cumorah. Valen enjoyed being the leader and showing everyone which way to go and how to do things. When we got to the top she spent most of her time looking for the cat that was there last time we went. Next, we went to the Smith Family Farm and the Sacred Grove. This time we took the tour of the log cabin and frame house. Every time we go there, Valen begs to go on the tour and it has never worked out for us, but this time it did. I think she still liked the barn the best, even though it is not a part of the tour. We didn’t spend very much time in the Sacred Grove because Riley was getting a little crazy, so the girls and I went back to the car so that Grandpa Mike and Leah could have a few moments of silence in the Grove. After stopping to get some pictures of the Temple we headed into Palmyra. We went to Grandin’s Printing Press. Valen’s favorite part was folding the replica sheet of Book of Mormon pages. Then we went to the LDS Harvest bookstore where Valen gave me all the reasons why she needed everything she saw.

RILEY
We went to Palmyra first thing in the morning. We stopped at The Hill Cumorah first. The weather was warm with a little wind, but there was snow on the ground and that had Riley’s attention very first thing. She had one glove wet before we even got into the visitor’s center. She really wanted to go into the Christus room, so, while everyone else was talking to the Sister Missionaries, her and I went in. She enjoyed looking at the statue, and I showed her the nail prints in his hands and feet and told her that Jesus got those because he died for us because he loves us. She sat for just a brief moment and looked into his face. When everyone else came in and they started the presentation I told Riley to be quiet so she could hear what Jesus wanted to say to her. When the voice started talking she seemed very surprised and looked over at the statue. When she realized that he wasn’t actually talking she went back to climbing all over the chairs.
When we got outside, again Riley was drawn to the snow. The only way I could get her up the hill was to run along side her and tell her we had to catch up to Valen. She also liked walking on top of the retaining walls. Every once in a while she would stop, look at me and say, “Bye, bye Mom,” and turn around and start back down the hill.
Next, we went to the Smith Farm and Sacred Grove. First, we went to the log home. Riley loved walking outside to each structure, but wasn’t so excited that she couldn’t run around the log cabin and play in the fireplace and swing on the ropes that blocked the off limit rooms, or get on the beds upstairs or play with the place settings on the table. In the frame house she liked the two bowls of pinecones underneath the kitchen table. She had to make sure each bowl had exactly the same amount of pinecones. It took her several tries before she got it right. She didn’t like the barn or the machine shed, but liked crunching in the leaves to the Sacred Grove. We made it as far as the outdoor chapel when we stopped and let Riley run around and get some energy out. Then we headed to the car to get some snacks.
We stopped by the Temple on our way into town so Grandpa Mike and Leah could get some pictures. Then off to the grocery store to get some food. Riley ran up and down the isles and became obsessed with the package on one of the frozen turkeys.
Then we went to the Grandin Printing Press. Once again, like the first time we went there, Riley was super excited about the elevator. She ran through all of the rooms and had to go behind every rope they had there. This time she also really enjoyed looking down at the floors below us.The final stop was the LDS Harvest bookstore. Riley ran straight into the toy room. At one point she went around the store and collected as many of the CTR teddy bears as she could and put them in the toy box. We had to get them out and put them back, she wasn’t so happy about that.

October 31, 2008

VALEN

Valen did go to school today. Grandpa Mike, Riley and I went to her school to watch her in the school Halloween parade. Her and William Eaton walked with each other. Then, during the Arthur video, she got to hand out her Halloween treats—ghost suckers and pumpkin cookies.
A quick trip home to get Justin and then we were off again to the Albright-Knox art gallery. Riley and I left 15 minutes into it, so I didn’t get to spend much time with Valen, but I think that she liked the gift store the best, “When kids go to museums, they never know what to expect, but they always know there is going to be a gift shop.”
After the art museum we went Trick-or-Treating with Ron Douglas and his daughter, Anoth. Valen decided to dress up in her Karate uniform instead of being Ash. I think she had fun—all of the kids were four and under. There were several cats to help out though, and most of them followed her. After that we went to The Royal for dinner with Grandpa Mike and Leah.

RILEY

We started the day off at Wegman’s, where Grandpa Mike and Leah bought Riley a ghosty sugar cookie. Then we drove around down town looking at a lot of the old churches and buildings. After a quick stop at the Lexington Co-Op, we headed to Valen’s school for her Halloween party. We watched the kids parade around the school—Riley spent most of her time digging in the mossy dirt; and then we went inside for some Halloween treats and to watch Arthur videos.
After that we came home to pick up Justin and then head to the Albright-Knox art gallery. Riley made it for about 15 minutes before I decided that instead of chasing her around a museum with millions of dollars worth of art, we should run around outside at a playground. Deleware Park is right behind the art museum, so we went there instead. There is a pond/lake there that you can walk right up to. Riley was very excited and told me to take her shoes off so she could get in the water. She was very disappointed when I wouldn’t. So we headed up to the playground, passing some ladies with their very little dogs; Riley insisted they were cats, but I assured her they were dogs. She looked at me and said, “Cats.” End of discussion. We had a lot of fun at the playground. I pushed Riley in the swing for a few minutes, and then attempted the big kid playground, but decided that was too scary—she stood at the top of the big slide and cried. We went to the little playground and she climbed up the pole, went through the tunnel and came down the slide, over and over and over and over. The only variation was that eventually she wanted me to lift her onto the playground equipment and bypass the pole. At one point we did lay down on the slides and pretend to sleep.
After Justin and Valen were done in the art museum, we met up with Ron Douglas and his little girl, Anoth, for some Trick-or-Treating. At first, Riley was very unhappy and did not want to walk, wear her coat or even her costume. But by the end, she was running from house to house, even dragging us and yelling for more treats and candy. We found several cats along the way, and that did lend some entertainment.
After that, we went to eat at The Royal with Grandpa Mike and Leah. Riley ate everyone’s bread and had two cups of chocolate milk. She was also put out that I didn’t let her play in the fountain on the wall behind the tables.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Valen's Birthday Party

2008-10-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

Valen had Karate first thing this morning. While her and Justin were gone to that I put the finishing touches on the birthday party. When they got home there was just enough time for Valen to change into her Ash costume. Garrett Jones—from her primary class, Ilona Lukina and Kailynn—both from her school—came to the party. There weren’t many, but I think they had fun. They colored pictures and did Pokemon word searches. Then we played ‘Whose That Pokemon?’ We had Justin draw pictures of different Pokemon and the kids guessed who they were. Valen ended up guessing most of them. Then, we played pin the tail on Pikachu.

After that, we opened presents. She got a Pokemon action figure, a stuffed animal monkey and blanket, Sponge Bob Life and glitter glue pens. After that, the kids watched a Pokemon movie while we got the Pokemon monkey cheese ready. The kids ate lunch while they continued to watch the movie.

Then we had Pokeball cupcakes and handed out the Pokemon party favors—a bookmark, a marshmallow sucker, a bookmark and a Pokemon card.

They ended the party with a game of Pokemon Sorry.

After the party we went to the mall. We tried to find snow pants for Valen, but there were none in her size. So we got Aunt Annie’s cinnamon sugar pretzel sticks instead. Then we went to Target to get Valen a Pokeball to finish her Pokemon Trainer outfit for Halloween.
Justin took Valen over the Zach and Zaden Webber’s house. They couldn’t come to the birthday party, so they invited Valen over to their house to play. They also gave her an ant farm for her birthday present.
We also went to Barnes and Nobles this evening.

Riley

Riley spent most of that time being chased by the kids that were invited. She did also enjoy the Pokemon macaroni and cheese, a Pokeball cupcake and watching the Pokemon movie. She did color a word search as well.
After the birthday party we went to the mall to look for shoes for Justin. We didn’t have much luck finding shoes, but we did get to ride the elevator several times and we went to Aunt Annie’s and got cinnamon sugar pretzel sticks.
After dinner and a quick bath, we picked Valen up at the Webber’s house. On the way there Riley and I were singing all of the Halloween songs that we learned at library story time. Riley enjoyed the stirring song, helping me say words like stir, whoo and boo. While at the Webber’s house, Annie came running downstairs to tell us that the little girl was playing in the toilet upstairs.
After picking Valen up we went to Barnes and Noble and got to play with the Thomas the Train set. As we were leaving I had Riley on my shoulders. She was pointing out the Curious George poster in the corner when she sneezed on my head. I could feel the spray of it on my arms. Two ladies that were watching us were commenting on how cute Riley was up on my shoulders; as soon as she sneezed they both let out an, “EEEWW.”

Lions say "ROAR"

2008-10-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

Valen
After getting dressed and not eating breakfast, we went to Riley’s play group/preschool. Valen enjoyed making the pumpkin craft—gluing on ripped pieces of construction paper onto a paper plate to make a pumpkin. Valen went beyond making a pumpkin and made a pumpkin creature with legs and arms. She also really enjoyed snack time. When we went to the play room afterward, she told me that she felt too old to be there, but then spent quite a bit of time on the zip line and in the sand box and ball pit. I think she had fun.

After a quick lunch, Valen and I headed off to a consignment sale at a local church. Valen found all of the toys immediately. She gathered up all of the Rescue Hero toys and wanted to get all of them. She settled for a packet of write your own books. Just as we were about to leave, we found a bike that was perfect for her, just bigger than her other bike, but not so big she can’t ride it now, so we got it. She rode it around the church several times to make sure that she fit on it. She was so excited to have it that she didn’t complain when we had to cram it into the back seat with her.

After a quick dinner, we went to Grant Richards baptism.

After that we had Valen change into her Halloween costume—Ash, the Pokemon trainer, so we could go to her Girl Scout activity. We went out to the Amherst Museum for some Halloween fun. Basically you go Trick-or-Treating to all of the different buildings on the Museum lot. All of the buildings were decorated and had lights and scary music and noises playing. At first, Valen wasn’t so sure about it, but nothing was too scary, so she was ok with it. After the Trick-or-Treating, we headed to a building for doughnuts and cider.

Riley

First thing this morning we went to Monkey Around play group/preschool. Valen got to come with us today. The theme was the seasons and the color was orange—Riley brought in her pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. All of the kids came dressed up in their Halloween costumes—Riley came as a lion—we had to bribe her with a sucker just to put it on. She made a pumpkin picture. After class was over we went Trick-or-Treating to three of the doors in the building. I don’t think Riley really cared she just wanted to go to the playroom. We spent quite a bit of time playing in the playroom. Riley focused on the ball pit and the playhouse today.

Tonight after dinner we went to Grant Richards baptism. Riley saw Ellie Gruwell there and was determined to sit next to her. We sat behind Ellie, which gave Riley the excuse to play peek-a-boo with her.

After the baptism we grabbed some treats and headed out to the Amherst Museum for Valen’s Girl Scout activity. Basically you go Trick-or-Treating to all of the different buildings on the Museum lot. All of the buildings were decorated and had lights and scary music and noises playing. Riley had a lot of fun. I don’t know if she really understood what was going on, but she enjoyed it. She actually enjoyed wearing her costume this time—which was good because it helped give her en extra layer of warmth. She even roared when we asked her what a lion said. She had great concern over a blow-up ghost that we saw in front of one of the buildings. Not only did he have a sad look on his face, but he was outside in the cold. After getting all the treats we headed to a building for cider and doughnuts.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Mike!!

Valen's Baptism Annoucement

2008-10-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

~
I love to see the temple.
I’m going there someday
To feel the Holy Spirit,
To listen and to pray.
For the temple is a house of God,
A place of love and beauty.
I’ll prepare myself while I am young;
This is my sacred duty.
~
I would like to announce that for my first step to the temple,

I have chosen to be baptized into the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

on
November 1, 2008.

September 27, 2008

2008-09-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

Valen
Valen came with me to a baby shower at Eliza Damstedt’s house. She got to play with Zack and Zaden Webber and had a good time. There is a bubble gum machine that was loaded up with Skittles; the kids were going crazy, getting as many as the could carry and then running off. I had to ask Valen to stop after I saw her at the machine three or four times. On the way home from the baby shower we stopped at a garage sale and found TWO Pokemon movies—Pokemon 2000 The Movie and Pokemon the First Movie.
After a lunch of Pokemon monkey cheese—macaroni and cheese—Valen went with Justin to see about a piano. We ended up not getting either of the ones they looked at.
We went outside for a while tonight so that Justin and Valen could play Frisbee and baseball.
We watched Daniel and Laurel Peterson tonight. Valen loves it when we watch them because Laurel is so little that she can carry her around like a little baby doll.

Riley
Riley has been very attached to waffles lately. Every meal she asks for waffles, and is then quite upset when she doesn’t get them. This morning I made waffles, she was thrilled!!
Riley was sick again today. She didn’t go anywhere. This afternoon we finally let her go outside and play. She spent a few minutes playing with the soccer ball and baseball, but then went to her backup—digging in the dirt. Then we went to the playground—Riley’s newest trick is climbing up the slide. She’s pretty good at it. She likes to get halfway up and pretend that she is slipping and falling; she screams and kicks her legs and then laughs.

What a Day

2008-09-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

Valen
We went to Palmyra today so that I could baby-sit for those going to the Temple. Valen played outside for awhile, watched the new Barbie movie and went to the Family History Library to learn how to do family history. After about 5 minutes she came back and told me that wasn’t what she really wanted to do.
After we got home I decided that I was too tired to make dinner so we went to Olive Garden to pick dinner up. We came home and watched Nanny McFee while we ate. Then Valen and Riley turned into puppies and were barking and running around and panting. I even caught Valen licking Riley’s face—GROSS!!!

Riley
We went to Palmyra today so that I could baby-sit for those going to the Temple. There were a lot of kids crammed in one small room, but Riley enjoyed playing with all of the trucks, trains, cars and the chalkboard. She would go up to several of the kids and talk to them, or sit by them like they were old friends. She would talk and laugh just enjoying herself. On the chalkboard she drew circles and letters. The circles were real circles, and she knew what they were. I wrote her name and she just started drawing lines and saying random letter names and then yell “Riley!” She did point out several letters and it seemed that she really knew what they were.
When we got home I decided I was too tired to fix dinner so we went to Olive Garden to pick up dinner. Then, we came home and ate dinner while we watched Nanny McFee. After eating our dinner we had the mints that come with the food. Riley got so excited that she ran around the room yelling, “treats! Treats!”

LAZY ME

2008-09-18T19:50:00.001-07:00

So, I haven't gotten any pictures up from our trip yet, but I have been journaling Valen and Riley's day each day so far this month. I'm not going to put them all up, but from now on I will post them each day, hopefully. And eventually I will get to our trip pictures. **Warning** Valen's post for today does contain talk about sex from the view point of a seven year old--yes she has had "The Talk."

VALEN
September 18, 2008

The past few days, Riley and I have been playing outside just before Valen gets home from school. We catch Valen as she gets off the bus and she comes over to the playground to play with us. Today, as Valen was getting off the bus I yelled for her to come over to us, but she didn’t hear me. I told Riley that we needed to go home to get Sissy; by the time we got there Valen was hysterical and crying. She said she was worried and scared that we weren’t home. Riley ran up to her, and with a concerned look on her face gave Valen a hug and asked if she was “owie.”
Tonight at dinner, somehow we got talking about babies and I told Valen that I would have the next baby if she would be pregnant for me. She told me no way, and besides she couldn’t be pregnant anyway, “Eight year-olds can’t have babies Mom, that’s gross, I don’t want a penis stuck in my vagina. GROSS!” I laughed so hard.
Valen had Karate again tonight. She is still doing very well. She listens and does everything that she is asked. Her jumps kicks keep getting better and better.

Riley
Riley and I spent the whole morning running errands. For one we had to go on campus. Riley got so excited when we pulled up to the CFA building. She started yelling out, “Daddy, Daddy!!” She didn’t quite understand why he wasn’t there. But I think the ride in the elevator took her mind off of it. We also passed by Valen’s school; again she got really excited and started screaming, “Sissy, Sissy!! Hi Sissy!” We waved as we drove by.
Riley made her first fort today. While I was getting dinner ready she brought her blankie and several dishes into the kitchen and hung out under the table. The only way that I could get her to come out was to set up Valen’s little table in the living room.
Valen had Karate tonight, so we went to watch. Riley had to bring her bag full of dishes and set them up all over a chair. A little boy behind us kept looking at Riley and what she was doing. Riley gave him the evil eye and threw herself over the dishes, and then eventually covered them so he wouldn’t touch them.
Usually when I put Riley to bed she gets up several times and tries to come out of the room. I stand at the door and hold the doorknob so that she can’t turn it and get out. This usually deters her enough to go and get into bed. Tonight, however, after she tried the doorknob, she screamed out, was quiet for a moment and then yelled out, “Help you! Help you!” I opened the door to find her trying to climb the ladder to the top bunk; she was on the third rung, and got stuck.

I hope you enjoy my world through the lives of my children. Someday I may get my own life, but that's not very likely.

Finally, after two months

2008-09-05T16:58:00.000-07:00

I know that I haven't been very good at posting anything lately, but I finally feel like my life is getting back on some type of schedule. We went on a month long trip to Utah/Wyoming--posts on that to follow. After getting back, we got Justin ready for school, which her started the 25th of August. Then, for our anniversary, the 27th of August, we went out for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory--I highly recomend the 30th anniversary special cheesecake. Valen started school on the 3rd of September. I can't believe that she is in second grade already. It's so crazy. She is growing up way too fast. I am trying to get things back in order and get us back on a schedule. I've been doing good for the past few days, but I've still got a ways to go.

Last night Valen had a Girl Scouts meeting. We made pins to trade up at camp. When all the pins were done, we let the girls run around outside. Me, and some of the moms were sitting and talking about different things. The conversation turned to child support and the fathers of the girls, and how they don't see their daughters and are dead beat dads. I didn't say very much, but just thought to myself. I am so greatful for the situation that I'm in. I have a wonderful husband who loves me and the daughters that he has had with me. He loves and supports us and does everything that he can to make us happy and make a better life for us. He enjoys being around his kids and with his wife--I think. I am greatful that I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm greatful to have a testamony that I have an eternal marriage and that I can be with Justin FOREVER!

Happy Fourth of July

2008-07-05T07:47:00.001-07:00

For the Fourth of July we decided to go letterboxing. We found a great place that had lots of stamps--the Great Baehre Conservation Area. The stamps were a series of Winnie-the-Pooh characters. We didn't have very much luck finding very many of the stamps--three out of seven--but we found some beautiful scenery and some great wildlife.

Valen and Justin looking at the marsh critters.

An example of marsh critters--bullfrogs-they make a great sound, almost like a dying bike horn.

Again, looking at the marsh critters.

Riley getting some energy out after sitting in the stroller for so long.

Valen--what more needs to be said?

That evening for fireworks we joined with some friends--the Webber family-Ben, Erin, Zack, Zaden and Annie--at the UB North Campus near the lake.

Justin at his most patriotic moment.

Valen and Zack.

I think this is Zaden and his glow stick and Justin's artistic vision.

FIREWORKS!!!!

Riley absolutely loved the fireworks. From the moment that they started, until they ended she was clapping and cheering and happy. At one point, halfway through the show, she shook Justin and said, "Dad!!" and pointed up to the fireworks as if he was missing them.

Every time there was a lull in the display she would look at me, sign and say "more!" I would tell her to tell the people shooting off the fireworks and she would shout "more!" and the fireworks would start up again. At the end she clapped very loud and screamed and shouted. She loved every minute.

Family Pictures

2008-07-05T07:09:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we had a friend, Alexis Davies, take some family pictures for us. They turned out relatively well considering it was early afternoon and our kids were worn out and tired. It was our ward temple trip and we got the pictures taken AFTER we went to the temple.

This is one of the only ones where Riley is "smiling."
An historical note--these pictures were taken on the Palmyra Temple grounds on the rock wall that was the original fence for the Smith family farm.

This is our beautiful Valen, who loves posing for pictures.

These are our beautiful girls--I think the grass is tickling Riley's nose.

Aren't we so cute?

This picture was taken at the Smith Family Farm. Riley was almost happy during this one.

This was the last picture we took. Riley was beyond done, but the rest of us look good.

A Week or Two in Review--continued

2008-07-03T18:31:00.000-07:00

I am still learning how to run this website and so to help lessen the stress in my life I am doing this post in two parts.

To continue our fun weeks . . .

GLEN PARK

We were told that we have to visit Glen Park. It had a beautiful waterfall that we had to see. So we finally decided to go. We got to the park and could hear the river so, with Valen leading the way, we headed down to it. We came upon this beautiful river, just shallow enough to wade in, but deep enough for small fish. Slow enough to be safe, but swift enough to take ones flip flops down stream.

Riley rather enjoyed being able to get in the water, she is used to being told no. After wading a while in the river we decided that it was time to find the waterfall. We searched for a while with no luck, and decided to head back to the sign at the front entrance of the park. On our way to the sign Valen yells out, "There it is! I found it!" Sure enough, across the street from where we parked is the waterfall. How we missed it when we parked is beyond me. But we crossed the street and began exploring around that side of the park.

This picture, believe it or not, is one of our better ones.

We had several other events, which are not documented, take place this week.
Friday the 27th--Valen and I went to Nim's Island at the dollar theatre--although the dollar theatres here cost $3.50!!!!!!!!
Saturday 28th--We went to a farmer's market on South Campus. We were expecting a big market, being downtown. I think there were six booths. Oh well, it was fun anyway--we got some really great blueberries.
Monday 30--Valen started swimming lessons. Last year it was quite a problem getting her to go. She is afraid of being in the deep water because she can't swim well enough to save herself and she's afraid she might drown. So we explained to her that by going to swimming lessons she would learn to swim in deep water so that she wouldn't drown. "But I'm too scared of being in the deep water." It took some convincing--bribery and telling her that Zack--the boy she has a crush on--will be in her class. She was brave, went into the water and has loved every minute of it. She even puts her face in the water for the bobbing part.
After swimming we went to the Buffalo Science Museum. So much fun. My favorite part is either the stuffed Alaskan Brown Bear or the giant Sequoia tree ring--it shows things that happened during the trees life like World War I, the American Civil War, the Revolutionary War, the discovery of America, the Birth of Christ.
Wednesday 2--After swimming lessons, Valen and I stayed at the North Forest Park and participated in the Red Box time--the city has crafts at the park every day for whoever signs up. Pretty cool. After that we went to play group--we went on the Ellicott Creek Trailway to the 9/11 memorial.
Today was our errand day. We are trying to get things together for our trip out to Utah and so we bought some things like batteries for our air mattress, treats for the drive, a Nintendo DS for Valen--she decided that that is what she wanted to spend her birthday money on. So we decided that instead of waiting until her birthday, we would let her get it now and then pay us back when her birthday comes. I'm not sure how this will go, we'll have to wait and see.

Our children after a day of running errands. Riley is still in the position of having her diaper changed.

Riley gave herself some tribal tattoos in the car today with a dry erase marker.

That's our past two weeks. I don't know if I will give a week in review every week, but it seemed like a good idea for today.

A Week or Two In Review

2008-07-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

We have had a very busy, but fun week. Valen is finally out of school, and with Justin not working and out of school that gives us a lot of time together as a family. Although, with Justin not working that also gives us a lack of funds, so we have been exploring the beauty of New York around us.

June 23rd was Valen's second to last day at school, Friendship day. I got to go and spend the ENTIRE day with her. Why they subject the kids to the last two weeks of school, I will never know, but at least they get to do fun stuff. They had so many activities that we were running from one station to the next. They had to pump the kids so full of sugar they would be able to make it through the day.

They had a giant bouncy castle. I'm surprised that all of the kids went on it. It looked a little too big, but they seemed to have fun on it. Most of them complained when it was time to get off and move to the next event.

This is Valen's amazing hang upside down trick.

The kids got to do several outdoor games. Valen's team won tug-of-war both times.

This is Valen helping her team win the sack race. Most of the sacks had the bottoms blown out. Some of the kids had this figured out and just started running. But most of them kept hopping anyway.

My favorite part of the day, besides spending so much time with Valen, was the comments from one little girl. She complained about EVERY activity. She was too scared to go in the bounce house--but she tried it and had fun; she was too scared to go on the slide--but she tried it and had fun and was even a little upset when her turn was over; she didn't like the flavors of the cotton candy and snow cones--even though she got one of each and ate most of them; she was upset that she didn't get her popcorn right then; she didn't like any of the outdoor games--she wasn't having any fun; she didn't like the birthday snack--she ate most of that too; she didn't like the concert--I'll give her credit on that one, it was rather boring; but finally at the end of the day on the very last activity she finally started having fun doing the crafts. It must be so hard being forced to play outside all day long, eating sugary foods and running around like crazy.

STRAWBERRY PICKING

We finally got to take Valen strawberry picking. It wasn't quite as much fun as the first time. Riley got bored a lot quicker and most of the good strawberries were gone. And Valen wasn't so happy that we had to wait to eat them.

Riley creating a masterpiece

2008-06-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

This is Riley at her creative best.

Strawberries. . . YUM!!!

2008-06-20T19:47:00.000-07:00

For playgroup this week we went to Gregs U-Pick Farm to pick strawberries. Oh my, what fun we had. Riley picked most of the strawberries herself. We had so much fun that we are going to go back next week to take Valen. If you have good strawberry recipes, let me know, I'm going to need them!!

www.gregsupick.com

We're Going to Get the Bunny

2008-06-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

This is Valen at her first grade production of "We're Going to Get the Bunny." Her class wrote the story and came up with the music, with the help of their music teacher. At first she was very dissapionted that she didn't have a speaking part, but after watching this I think you'll agree that she had fun with her part.

New York Weather

2008-06-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

We have been having crazy weather lately. I think we are getting all the leftover weather from the rest of the country. One minute it will be hot and humid, the next this:

Our front yard after the first storm.

The most beautiful one we could find.

At least they come in different sizes and shapes.

It hailed so hard that we actually got dents in our car. They are tiny so we couldn't take pictures of them, but I think that is the first time in my life I was worried about my car during a hail storm.
We have also been experiencing some crazy thunder storms. They have been so loud and intense that they have been scaring me. There was one clap of thunder that was so loud that I screamed, which made Justin come running downstairs asking me if I was alright and what the loud crash was. I told him it was the thunder, he thought it was me dropping the cookie sheet.

Deal of the Day

2008-06-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist posting today. I have nothing really great to say, but considering the day, I thought it approriate.

So my new favorite site in the world is freecycle.org. If you haven't been there you should. It is great. Not only can post things you want to get rid of, you can get free stuff and request things that you need. I put a playpen on there and within an hour someone emailed me about it. I've seen some amazing things on there--a moped even, althought I responded too late for that one. But if you have some time check it out.

http://www.freecycle.org/

While I am on the subject of being cheap--I was talking to a friend the other day about all of the great websites out there that help you save a few pennies here and there. Here are some of my favorite sites that help me out a bit--

http://www.mommysavers.com/ --this one posts finds on the internet for sales, discounts, free items and great household tips that help you save. I highly recommend this one.

http://www.sundaysaver.com/ --this one hooks you up with all of the local store ads each week. It also gives you printable coupons and other great deals.

http://www.couponsurfer.com/ --this one has free printable coupons.

While I am talking about free things--each state has a free fishing day. Check out your local/state game and fish department, it should be able to tell you when it is.

Blogging

2008-06-11T16:37:00.000-07:00

I have decided to use my blog like blogs are supposed to be used, for me it will be almost journal like. For today I want to list my favorite moments of the day.

We moved Riley out of her crib into the bottom bunk. She was very excited. She got to choose the sheets she wanted on her bed and she took several "rest" times on there--we have given up on naps--her choice, not ours. We will see if she actually sleeps.

I didn't have to cook dinner tonight. We had a community BBQ. And to top it off they had veggie burgers.

I found organic crunchy taco shells at the store tonight.

Today, I got to wash the new clothes I bought yesterday so that I can wear them tomorrow.

I also found out that King Arthur whole wheat flour is cheaper at Wegmans than at Tops, by over a dollar.

It was cool enough today that we didn't have to run the air conditioner, we got to have the windows open.

Our Newest Pets

2008-06-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

During the spring Justin and Valen came home one day telling me that they had found some tadpoles in a small pond. Each week since then we have been checking up on "our" tadpoles. Today when they went to check on them they couldn't find them and thought the worst. At closer inspection they found this:

Those are Valen's hands.

I think this one is Victor.

Letterboxing

2008-05-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

Several years ago our family started a new tradition--Letterboxing. It's basically a big treasure hunt. It has taken us places that we wouldn't normally have gone, and we have seen things we wouldn't normally have seen. Most of them are outside in beautifully scenic places. It is a good way to get outside and enjoy nature, and to spend time together. The one we did today was not in beautiful or scenic place--across the street from a vet clinic--but we still had fun.

This is part of the "treasure" we were looking for--the logbook where we stamp our personal stamps in.

This is the stamp that we were looking for.

This is me stamping the stamp in my personal logbook.

This is Riley finding her own "treasure."

This is Valen posing for the camera. A side note--while posing for the picture her stamping was mussed.

This is what Justin looks like Letterboxing.

This is me, so gracefully putting the Letterbox back so that someone else can find it.

If you enjoy the outdoors and following clues, I would highly recommend this activity to you. As I said before, it gets you outdoors and find some pretty interesting places along the way. Check out the website at:

http://www.letterboxing.org/

A day in Rochester

2008-05-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

We went to the Strong Museum in Rochester yesterday. It was quite fun. Last time we went I couldn't get a picture of Valen in this room because it makes me motion sick to go in. Justin came with us this time so he was able to get this one.

Riley has started to LOVE Elmo. So her and I spent most of our time in the Seaseme Street section of the museum.
She enjoyed Elmo's bed because it had a perfect view of the Mr. Noodle television.
In the few minutes that we spent outside of Elmo's World, Riley liked the Story Land. She found a facination with setting and resetting the table in one of the cottages.
She also rather enjoyed the "sand box" by the Pirate ship.

WAIT!!! He's not Justin!!

Girl Scouts

2008-05-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

Valen started Girl Scouts several months ago--we just missed the cookie sale when our troop started, but no worries we will hit you all this fall. For their second to last meeting they had a Hello Kitty Etiquette Tea Party. Apparently Hello Kitty consideres this to be proper chop stick eating.

Super Heroes

2008-04-20T18:33:00.000-07:00

As you can see, we have super heroes at our house. They fight crime, return lost basketballs and wash their hands before dinner.

Valen decided that her and Riley needed to be super heroes for the evening. At first it was really cute, them running around the back yard, the wind catching their capes in just the right place. But then, while Riley was in her bath, Super Valen was asking me every three seconds if I was in trouble and if I needed help. After telling her "No" every three seconds, she looked out the front window watching the people outside wondering, out loud, if they needed help. When I told her that she couldn't go outside, she got upset and asked, "Well, what kind of super hero can I be now?"

Oh, by the way, her name is Lightning Girl--inspired by her socks.

Chuck E Cheese

2008-04-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

Thursday we went to Chuck E Cheese. The fun we had. We went with some friends that we live by, Anna and Molly Eccles. Between our two families we got over 300 tokens, which made for some good times and great prizes.

Buffalo Zoo

2008-04-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we went to the Buffalo Zoo. It was a perfect day, not too hot, and not too cold. The girls had a blast. They got to ride a train and play at the playground. We saw lions, tiger cubs and this bear, oh my.

Fire Fun

2008-04-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

For play group today we went to the Williamsville Fire Station. They had a fire fighter dress in the fire gear for the kids and talked about fire safety for a while. Then they gave each kid--most of who were under three--hats and let us play in the trucks for a while. Riley had a blast!! She loved the idea of getting into the trucks. There were two things that made her mad though--she couldn't press the buttons to set off the sirens, and I wouldn't let her shut the door and go "bye-bye." We had to go in each truck several times, and she got extremely excited each time. The only time she was still during the whole adventure is when they turned the lights on one of the trucks, which kept her mezmorized for several minutes.

Water Colors

2008-04-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

Recently, Riley has become interested in anything art--crayons--she only eats the brown ones--I think they remind her of chocolate; markers; colored pencils; Play Dough--her "dough dough;" paint; pens--she enjoys writing notes on herself just like her dad; and chalk. She keeps herself entertained for minutes on end. So today I decided to introduce water colors. She was so excited to paint. We got out the paper and brushes, which she recognized, but when we got out the paints themselves and the water, she was a little confused. When I tried to show her that you had to dip the paint brush in water first and then in the paint, she got upset. After several attempts I decided it might be best to just get the paints wet and let her paint. But then she became obsessed with the idea of the water in the paints and mixing them. And then the cup of water looked fun with all of the swirling colors. Eventually the cup of water spilled all over her--"uh-oh mama"-- and her arms and face were covered in paint and we decided it was time to be done. The sheet of paper, however, did have three or four brush strokes.

New York Wild Life

2008-04-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

I was working at the computer when something caught my eye. This turkey was out for walk--it was the nicest day we've had since last fall, so I don't blame him/her.