My Bed!

I finally got this done! Ginger sure put in her time too. Ginger quilted it for me, sent it back and I just had to finish the edge. I really like it. I actually go upstairs just to look at it about once a day!

Jenna and her BOX

This toy is the most fought after toy I have seen. I'm ready to get rid of it except it holds a place in my house. It is supposed to hold the dolls in the playroom but I'd say 90% of the time the dolls are on the floor and this is what it is used for.
Peek-a-boo!

Camping with the Girls

This weekend we made a short trip to Valley of Fire and went camping with our ward. It is much different than the camping I grew up with. It still is great to be out of the city. Jenna was totally fascinated by the starts, the dirt and her freedom. It was a short trip because Scott needed to be home to study but it was nice to be away.

Here is the tent village we were in for the night. Our tent is up a ways, but I was quite impressed by the spot Scott found in the dark!

In the morning Eliza was ready to play. She was very cute all morning. She and Jenna had fun building a dirt pile. To ensure people wouldn't step on it she even built a fence for it. Of course, she couldn't play in the dirt that was out of the way, we had to play right next to the kitchen!Scott took the girls up the rocks a little. They were having so much fun it was hard to get them down. Our camping trip would not be complete if we missed the spider! This is our second time out to Valley of Fire and the second time we have seen one of these.

Quite the little joy. Doesn't look to impressive? Well, the fact that we can drive down the road at 45mph and see it is impressive enough for me. Eliza did okay with the whole thing until dad tried to get it to move.It was a good time! Eliza loved the roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Apparently she was also roasting her goldfish over the fire. I guess it just made them perfect.

Jenna

Jenna is quite the busy girl. Last night after just a few minutes, I decided I needed to check on her upstairs. She was sitting in her room with the baby lotion ALL over. Had I not been so worried about the carpet I would have taken a picture. I had to figure out how to get lotion out and clean it up before bedtime, which was not coming quick enough. I woke to Jenna talking in her room and wanted to get her out before she woke up Eliza. I knew something was wrong when I walked into the room. Poop. She said "Bum" She really didn't spread as much as she had before but it was potent! My nose was burning as I got her out of bed. I changed her and cleaned her up enough to survive for a few minutes. After Eliza woke up I grabbed all contaminated items and started a load of laundry. I didn't realize I couldn't wash the pillow. "Spot clean" How do you spot clean poop off a pillow... let me tell you how NOT to! Not with Spot Shot cleaner. I sprayed that on the pillow and started to rub the infected area only see the paint, or whatever coating is on the pillow, shred off. I guess the poop is gone if the coating is.
I really am required to keep Jenna in my sites at all times. She is too devastating to leave alone.

The Art of Negotiation

Let me preface this with I have no skills in negotiation...so all of this is completely observational. I'm just too blunt. If I want something and think its worthwhile to ask, I do. If the other person says no, I'm sure they had a reason. If they say yes, we're both happy. My husband on the other hand is the best saleman you'll ever meet. He really can sell to anyone. He believes there is compromise in all situations and everyone can always be happy. There we have one of his finest qualities. Good thing, because one of my biggest shortcomings is the exact opposite. I look at a situation, think it is hopeless, give up and make everyone around me miserable for the day. So yesterday as we were getting ready for church he takes charge of the girls. Since it is really his one day to do this he loves to get them ready...he even does their hair. I usually go in and help get them dressed. I set out some clothes and then go back to finish myself. Eliza walks in and says she doesn't want to wear the dress I picked out and goes to the closet to find a "pretty" one. I say, this one is pretty and you wore that one last week. Let's wear this one. She continues on the "but its not pretty" and I leave the room. Whatever, its just a dress and I really don't care which she wears as long as we go, right? Some things are just not worth the effort of the argument. Scott on the other hand starts like this... "Eliza, this is a pretty dress. Where did you get it from? Don't you think she would like it if you wore it? You wore the other last week and this is really pretty too. Look you can match Jenna. Next time we'll let you choose." She comes out 5 minutes later in the dress I chose, no tears nothing. I really don't know what Scott says to convince her of things like this. Honestly if it was me she would have been crying because I have no skills in this area!
Eliza is learning these skills from her dad. Today she has a bit of a cold. She asked to go outside and play with the normal two buckets of water and her ice. I said no, thinking its not the best for a cold. She continues to try to convince me, "but it will make me feel better, how about one bucket of water, I'll stay really dry, I won't get cold..." I hope she continues down that path instead of mine. Just for the record I didn't give in and she found something else to do. I wish I was better at this little point in my life. I just don't put in the time or effort to diffuse a situation. If Scott was handling the whole water and ice situation he would have come up with something magical for her to do instead and she would have been happy as well.

My Multitasker!!

Here is Eliza. If you will note even at the age of four she can do two things at once. She is playing a game on her computer, with her right hand, and drawing on the magnadoodle with her left!

Halloween

Good thing I wrote about Halloween before it actually happened. Friday morning Jenna was up at 2am with a burning fever. 104.7 She was just so hot. Unfortunately all she wanted was dad. Poor guy had to stay up with her so she could sleep. She woke up the next morning just a little warm, but her normal self so I didn't worry about it too much. I thought a walk in the afternoon would help so took her out and when we got home she was over 105. I ended up spending the evening in the ER to find out she was just fine, just really warm. Eliza was able to go to the trunk or treat at the church and get some candy, which made life better for her. Jenna was up and down all weekend...only to break out in a very small rash on Monday morning. She's been fine since. Somedays I need a manual...okay every day...but I'd even take one every other day!