September and part of October

Apparently I haven't been very good at keeping up with this blog.  I have good intentions, but it doesn't happen.  Right now I find myself with 50 minutes of spare time, which has become very rare.

Okay September.  School was a huge challenge for Olivia.  She'd cry every morning when I dropped her off no matter what I said to her.  It would tear me to pieces seeing her that way, but I kept a strong face and tried to encourage her.  It eventually got to point where I had to tell her that I wasn't going to listen to the crying anymore.  That seemed to help.  What made the biggest impact was asking her what her last name is. Odd, yes, but this worked.  She told me what our last name is and I told her because of this last name we can do hard things.  She thought about it and proudly walked into her classroom, tear free, and told her teacher that she could do hard things.  We talked about this later in the day and I explained to her that some things might seem hard right now, but soon they will be easy.  We have been tear-free almost every day since!

We found out the gender of the baby in early September too.  We're having a BOY!  I'm very excited.  After having my two girls and planning on this being my last child; I really wanted a boy.  This will be the first grandson on both sides.  My mom currently has 9 granddaughters!

Olivia started swim lessons again after having a break for 2 months.  She is s-l-o-w-l-y making progress.  Coming from a girl who was afraid of getting her face wet, the progress she has done has been remarkable.

October 9-- Third week of lessons Olivia finally puts her face in the water.  She said it was amazing!

Lucia decided to potty train herself.   I'm not complaining.  Lucia is stubborn and pretty much does things on her own timetable.  One day she decided that she was going to wear panties and go potty.  I wasn't able to argue with her.  I made her a potty chart that she worked diligently to complete.  The reward was swim lessons with Olivia.  We're now starting a new chart to record the nights that she wakes up dry.  She really wants to wear panties to bed like Olivia but this will come with time.

Olivia was recognized at her horse lessons this past week.  She was their 2000th session this year and to celebrate there was cake, balloons and a bag full of goodies for her.  This week is their last session for the year.  I complain to myself every week about the hour drive (each way) but once we're there it's total bliss.  I look forward to next May when sessions begin again.

Olivia at Resolution Horse -- Their 2000th session rider this year.

Lucia and Olivia with two of the volunteers.  Patty in the blue and Terry in the brown.  They have been wonderful to work with!

Lucia started her first swim lessons this week.  She is doing really well.  She won't jump into the pool unless helped and won't put her head under the water, but this will come with time.  I was determined to start her much earlier than Olivia to hopefully get rid of the fear early.

Lucia-- first swim lessons with her teacher Amie

I have been carpooling with a lady in my apartment complex to and from school.  I take the kids to school and she picks up.  I am not a morning person but I LOVE this time in the morning with Olivia.  It's 20 minutes that we get to talk.  I'm using the time in the car to work on various things like memorization, reading, math facts, or just to talk.  On Tuesday I asked her what she wanted to talk about and she wanted to talk about the circulatory system.  She's always been fascinated with the human body.  You would think that she'd want to become a doctor in the future but her reply is a cowgirl mommy.

September was also the Brigham City Temple open house which was a very special treat for our family!

Olivia, Nicol and Lucia at the Brigham city open house.

I guess we're caught up now.  Hopefully I can stay on top of this a little better....

First Day of Kindergarten

I did it!  I sent my oldest child to school.  I really doubted that I could this.  I mean, I have been planning on homeschooling her for the past 10 years (yes she is only 5) and now I send her off into the unknown.  At least it feels that way.  Perhaps it's a bit of a control issue, but it makes me nervous that she is away from me.

With that said, she is attending a Spanish Speaking school.  No she does not speak Spanish, at least not fluently.  I think she understands quite a bit and has been exposed to it her entire life.  Now it's time for her to officially learn.

Olivia beyond excited to head to school

Olivia wants to attend school and has been counting down for months.  I hope that she keeps that enthusiasm.

Our family.  Yep, Lucy is still wearing her ballerina swimsuit.  She wants to attend Ballet School.

Olivia outside her school, waiting to line up.  

Mighty Mind

When Olivia was about 2yrs old we received a Mighty Mind set. She would spend a good hour manuvering the pieces to fit into the spaces on the card.  I loved the logic that she had to use to figure out how to make the picture.

Today, we unpacked Mighty Mind and Lucy greatly enjoyed it.  (I should say that we have Mighty Mind as well as a similar set)  She did a fantastic job looking at what shape should be put down next.   I also found that Lucy knows nearly all of her shapes.  :)

And they are also great to use to build a fence and a playground.  Love Olivia's imagination!



A Special Friend

This is Olivia and her good friend Ain (pronounced Ine).  Ain is been here visiting her aunt for the past several weeks.  We're sad to say good-bye to Ain as she heads back to South Korea in a few days.  Olivia has greatly enjoyed playing with her new friend.  It's a sad thought that these girls will probably never see each other again. 

Cowgirl and the Bad Guy

This morning Olivia came in very excited that she finally finished her book or screenplay that she has been working on for a few days.  It's funny, but she wants to send her book off to the people who make DVDs (movies) for them to act it out.  I have no idea where she came up with this idea, but I give her a HUGE high five for creativity.

Now for Olivia's story:

It's a sunny day and then a large red cannon came and turned the cowgirl land to fire.

The water turned to fire but there was a green island.

I was hiding behind a rock and the bad guys didn't know I was behind the rock.

Then the bad guy captured me and there was no leaves on the tree.  Then the bad guy was killed and the trees had leaves again.

The End

My Graduate

Today Olivia graduated from Preschool.  Oh, it made me feel so proud seeing my baby girl graduate.  She really worked hard and learned SO much.  Come on, she is reading and doing math.  She is working on a first grade level and only entering Kindergarten this fall.  I couldn't be more pleased!

The preschool that I did with Olivia is Upstart.  Upstart is available free for children in Utah.  It is also the same program as Rusty and Rosy.  If you look at the price of it the program is very pricey but VERY worth it!  I hope that I will be here so Lucy can take advantage of this great program!  A huge thanks to Utah legislature who has made it possible for some children in Utah to do this program for free!

Utah Natural History Museum

Thursday was a very rainy day, but rain that was very much needed.  It seems that half of our state has been burning with the wild fires so we all welcomed the rain.  We headed to the new Natural History Museum on the University campus and thought it would be a welcomed change for us.

We arrived early and had plenty of time to explore the museum before it became too crowded.  We thought for a mere moment about going to the free day this coming Monday but since all the tickets were sold out and considering that I HATE crowds, I was willing to pay the $15 for the 4 of us to go.  I should clarify that Ed was free because he's a student and Lucy was also free since she's two.  We only paid for Olivia and I.

Exploring with Dad.

In the water section, Lucy and Olivia were 'fishing' for fish and bugs.  Lucy was terrified of the plastic bugs.  She tells me that she fears are having to kiss spiders or beetles.

Olivia loves rocks.  She has a pretty good collection at home so naturally she would explore the rocks and fossils.

In a few places there were these window floors where you can see right down into an exhibit.  This was dinosaur bones.  The girls were afraid of falling and to make it worse they were afraid of the dinosaur sounds in the background.  All of our talks about the dinosaurs being extinct did no good.

Lots of dinosaur bones.

We stopped for a lunch break at the Museum cafe.  I really didn't think the food was very good.  Lucy was super hungry and actually ate her entire sandwich and bag of carrots.  She asked for a chocolate doughnut and ate around the outside of the doughnut.

Ed examining butterflies and moths while Lucy plays with various animals puppets.  She really enjoyed the skunk and bald eagle puppets.

I'm glad that we went when it first opened.  By 2p when we left it was VERY crowded.  There were so many exhibits and things that I hope to visit often when Olivia is in school studying these things.  It's so nice to have this new and fantastic museum!

Sprinkler Day

On Tuesday our apartment complex had a sprinkler day for the children.  They turned on the huge rainbird sprinklers that I remember from my youth, large slip 'n slides, kiddie pools and Popsicles to cool off with.

Olivia and Lucy were very excited to play in the water.  Lucy is holding onto her big sister in the long line to go down one of two slip 'n slides.  I thought it was darling how she was lovingly holding onto her big sister.

Olivia was ready to go down and found it thrilling.  She wasn't afraid at all.  Olivia tends to be on the cautious side of things so to see her being so brave was a nice change.

Lucy had one look of Olivia going down and was terrified.  Another surprise to me since Lucy is very daring!

Olivia was quickly in line to go down a second time and naturally loved it!

Ed was down the hill taking pictures and told me to grab Lucy and toss her down.  Here she is not too sure what is going on but didn't cry.

And quickly she decided that this was the funnest thing ever!

After that time down, Olivia and Lucy spent the allotted two hours standing in line and going down the slip 'n slides.  After a quick mold inspection back at the apartment (thankfully no mold!) Ed came out and joined the girls.  All three of them were sliding down with joy.  I wish that I had the camera to capture just how much fun they were having! 

Brave

After a week of super sick kids, we were all needing to get out of the house.  As a surprise we took the girls to a local drive-in theater to see 'Brave'.  Leading up to it we told the girls that we were taking them to a surprise.  We drove across town and Olivia would try to guess what it was.  It wasn't until we were at the theater and parked before she realized that we were watching a movie outside.

Overall it was a good experience but a few things I simply must remember IF we do this again.  First is to borrow a smaller vehicle from someone.  I hate that since I was in a mini-van we were forced to park in the rear of the parking lot.  We drove around several times and I was afraid that we would stuck behind a giant truck with a lift package.  Thankfully we found something in the back but not behind anything bigger than us.  Our view of the screen was at an angle and pretty far away.

Lucy getting ready for the movie!

Second thing to remember, When Lucy is done, Lucy is done!  She was begging half way through the movie to go home so she could sleep in her bed.  After Brave was finished and before the second feature (Avengers) we made Lucy a bed out of blankets and she finally slept.

Last thing to remember is that I do not like staying up til 2am.  I didn't enjoy much of the Avengers because I was SOOO tired!

Brave just started.  This was before the girls started to climb all over us!

More Horse Adventures

It was nice that Ed was able to come with Olivia and I to 'horse lessons' this past Friday.  Because I am required to be next to Olivia at all times while she is on the horse, it has been nearly impossible for me to get photos.

Grooming Dixie.  Every session we begin by grooming one of the ponies or horses.

There is a nice little play area for the younger kids.  Lucy was actually happy to play.  After having 5ths, which at this point is not completely gone, she was feeling pretty good. 

More grooming.

Olivia is starting out learning to ride on a bareback pad.  This will help her be a better rider in the future because she has to be very cautious of her balance.  She must sit centered and tall and straight.

Let the riding begin.  Sometimes we stay in the corral, other times we head out on the road and near by trails.  Today was a trail day!  Olivia loved the 'road trip'.

Readjusting her balance. 

Dixie getting a drink

Lucy riding 'woody' the saddle set aside of the little kids in the play area.

Putting Dixie away in the 'Pony Palace'