Visit From Grandma Parker

Grandma Parker came for a visit! She was so much fun, and Elise warmed up to her pretty fast. We did lots of adventurous things, like driving out to see the glacier, and playing tourist by walking around downtown. We also did some new things Elise found fascinating. My mom brought a flannel board, a super duper, mega flannel board. She brought a couple stories, like the five green speckled frog song, and taught them to Elise:

Grandma also brought some Abby Cadabby fun things, a puzzle, some stories, and some fabulous bibs that don't have velcro, and Elise can't get them off! She also brought Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb. Here is us reading stories:

Grandma also helped us decorate a Ziggy cake for JP Dalton's birthday. I've been wanting to learn more cake decorating, and mom is a pro!:

All in all, we had a great visit, and were sad when she had to go home, but we have high hopes to see her again soon! WE LOVE GRANDMA!!

Grandma is coming for a visit!!!

My mom is coming for a visit!!! We are so excited! We haven't been able to see her since last May when we went down to the lower 48 for Elise's baby blessing. We are looking forward to reading lots of stories, maybe working on a project or two, and showing her around the beauties of Juneau. She came when Elise was born, but there was a ton of snow, and she mostly sat on the couch and held Elise during her naps, so I could get some sleep (What a HUGE blessing that was)!, So this time, we really want to get out, and are looking forward to spending time together. We love grandma!!!

The best French Dip EVER!!

We have been diligently trying to eat more home cooked, or at least prepared foods, rather than giving in and ordering a pizza or getting good burritos from the mall. This week roast beef was on sale at Walmart, so we got some for sandwiches. My sweet husband suggested we could try making french dip sandwiches, which are on my list of favorites. We got the mix package for the sauce from walmart, some great rolls, and last night put them together for one of the best french dip sandwiches I've ever had!! Not too salty, not too cold or soggy, just great flavor. What a simple, flavorful, fabulous dish! We are definitely having those again!

Shopping Helper

My little one is such a great helper! She has been especially interested in our shopping excursions. We needed to go to the grocery store for a couple of items, and since it would be a quick trip, I decided to let her walk instead of putting her in the cart. She loved this. We picked up a small hand held basket to carry our few items, and, to my surprise, instead of holding my hand, she wanted to carry the basket. We made a compromise. We both held onto the basket, as it was a bit big for her to carry all by herself. As we put things into the basket, she wanted to arrange them just so. She would occasionally get distracted, let go of the basket, and try to start touching everything on the shelves as we walked. I would remind her that I needed help with the basket, and that we shouldn't touch EVERYTHING. Mostly that works, and she will resume her hold on the basket, and we'll keep walking. It makes shopping a not so quick trip sometimes, but she definitely feels like a big girl, and a great helper. And she seems less intimidated by people who want to say hello to her in a store, maybe because she isn't as close to them, so they are less likely to try to touch her, as sometimes happens when she's in the big cart. Regardless, she is my best helper, and we're enjoying figuring out ways to continue to let her help!

Nursery Time #2

This last Sunday, Elise and I went to visit nursery for the second time. She will be 18 months on Thursday the 24th, and then can officially stay in for the whole almost 2 hours. This week I thought we were just going to visit for a few minutes like last time. When we got there the kids were playing with toys, and while it took her a couple minutes to feel comfortable about getting down from my lap (like 15 minutes), she eventually started trying to play with toys, or finding a book to read. I was curious as to how things like snack time, lesson, and singing time are done here, so we thought about staying longer. Elise loved playing with the toys, and got so engrossed, she didn't notice when I slipped out for a few minutes. Then the chorister came in for singing time. Elise loves songs, dancing, doing hand motions or signs, and has some definite favorite songs. Well, she was a bit intimidated with singing time in nursery, so I went back in to do the songs with her. She loved it. After each song she would clap vigorously. She was enthusiastic about doing the hand motions for the songs, even the new ones by following the leaders. She doesn't often sing along verbally, but she knows her favorites and will do the motions before you even get to that part of the song. They sang Popcorn Popping twice, just because she loves it so much. After each song, she clapped, then she started signing music. That's her way of asking to sing more songs. They sang several, which made her very happy.
After singing time, there was some more time playing with toys. I tried to slip out again, just to see how she would do with the leaders and kids by herself. Unfortunately she saw me this time, and started crying, but I went back in, and she immediately calmed down, grabbed a book, and wanted some story time. She did very well interacting with the other kids. Her version of sharing is to hand you a toy or book. She tried this several times, but the other kids just kind of looked at her, and wouldn't take the toys. So, she shared with me, and as we read stories, we gathered a couple more kids around us. During lesson and snack time, Elise sat in the seat at the table with the other kids, and only had a bit of trouble with the snack. They had gold fish crackers, which is new for Elise, and water in dixie cups, which she needed help not to spill. She was very slow, and methodical about her snack time, and was still eating when everyone else finished and had some more song time before parents came to pick everyone up. She loved to sit and watch the Wheels on the Bus song, and all the Tongan songs with hand motions as well. After she finished, she helpfully put her trash in the trash can, and proceeded to do one of her favorite things...help put the blocks back in the block bins. She spent most of her toy playing time doing that. She discovered a doll house, which she tried to climb into, and there was a little kitchen set, that she was enthralled with. As other parents came to pick up their children, I started trying to persuade her that we could go find Daddy and go home. She didn't want to leave. She was having way too much fun. We finally got her to allow me to put her sweater on, and pick her up so we could leave. She waved and blew kisses, and had such an overall good experience that I don't think she'll resist going back again. I was so glad things had gone so smoothly. I think practicing the songs at home made her feel comfortable with familiar activities in a new place. I am glad she has the opportunity to interact with other adults and kids close to her age. She's getting so grown up!!!

Puzzle Recovery

Remember the puzzle mayhem from a few days ago? Well, we got the puzzles all put together. There were three with similar pictures, same size pieces that Elise dumped all together. We got them all separated, and put together so we know all the pieces are there. Then, my brilliant husband thought of a genius way to keep this situation from happening again. (Elise has not had her puzzle privileges confiscated). Logan suggested numbering the back of the puzzles, so we could tell which pieces go with which puzzle. Isn't that incredibly smart? I would never have thought of writing on the puzzles. We sure are lucky to have some real brains in our household! I spent some time today, writing on the backs of all the pieces for each puzzle. That way if they all get dumped in a pile together, they will be more easily separated and we won't have to put all three puzzles together simultaneously while trying to keep Elise out of the mess. Hooray for Logan and his brilliant ideas!!!

Elise at the Glacier

Logan took these incredibly cute pictures of Elise at the Glacier when we went last week with his parents. She is getting so grown up, doing way better at smiling for the camera, and has so much personality!!!

This last week she learned to open ziploc baggies, turn on the camera when she is pretending to take pictures, and warmed up enough to give hugs and kisses to both Grandma and Grandpa before they left on Thursday night. We miss them a lot, and are feeling more inclined to want to make a visit down south ourselves this year.....we'll have to see how things work out with Logan's job, but we're keeping our fingers crossed!