Let's See...

Things have slowed down up here in the last few weeks....so there isn't really a whole lot going on. We do have some of our curtains up, at least four out of the six for the front room. We have also unpacked my clothes, Elise's clothes, and some of Logan's clothes. We're still working on getting the last dresser in place...and the rest of the things located and unpacked...

Elise is loving her large space in the front room to play. She found her dishes and fake food, and has been playing house. We also found her baby book (the first large scrapbook of the first few months of her life). She loves looking at it. She really likes hearing the story that goes, "Well, you were in Mama's tummy here, and then you came out, and you liked to sleep curled up on my tummy here." She has decided to retell herself this story, and even to practice curling up on my tummy to snuggle whenever she gets the chance. She has always been a little snuggle bug, but lately when she gets up in the morning, she is all about the snuggling. She usually stayed for a couple minutes, then we'd get her dressed, and some breakfast. Now she brings her blanket and glow worm, and settles in. When I ask if she's ready to get dressed, she says, "Not yet...." and sighs peacefully, so we snuggle a bit more. She is so fun. She has been talking about families in nursery, so she talks about it at home. She told me her Grandma Sue and Papa were cool people, and that she loved Grandma Parker. She likes to talk about people coming to visit and bring their suitcases, and about who her different cousins are. Sometimes she gets confused about who the people in family pictures are (which is understandable since she still hasn't met most of them, and let's face it, lots of us girls in my family look alike), and she'll say, "I don't know" if you ask who they are. But there are those she always recognizes....like 'Aunt Merdilee' (Aunt Merridee).
So, I guess that's it. Not tons of things being crossed off our lists...which sometimes gets me feeling like I'm not accomplishing anything, but we ARE getting to spend time together as a little family, and that is the best way to spend our time anyways!

Building Things

As we settle into out new space, complete with carpet, we are able to add some touches to our house that are making it feel more like home. Logan has been able to use his constructing skills to enhance our new situation, and help save some spending money as well. The first creation--a swing for the porch.

Logan built this over the last spring and summer while we were gone. He got it stained and hung this last week. It is beautiful!!!


The next item---a frame. Not just a frame for a random thing, but a frame for a special thing. During one of our trips with Logan in the spring, we saw some stained glass pieces and thought they were nice. We know my dad is many interests and talents, including working with stained glass. We asked my dad if he could make a piece for us. He helped us figure out possibilities, and in a very short period of time (about a week after having the pattern and choosing colors of glass), he completed this piece with two irises against a blue sky. We love it.


Logan built the frame last weekend, and hung it in the top center window of the front room. This was the first decorative item to be displayed in our home, and we love it! Thank you Dad!!!

The other two things Logan has made are things for Elise. As she is growing, and we're in a larger space, we have looked at getting her a toddler bed and a small table and chairs. Those items can be on the expensive side, especially when you have to ship them to Alaska. Fortunately, Logan was able to make the bed and table for Elise in the last couple weeks. (He's not getting much down time when he finishes his full work days---but they also cut him back to 40 hours a week, so it feels like he has lots of extra time now). Anyways, he made a great bed and table, and is planning for doing the chairs soon. Elise LOVES her bed and is excited she has a table at her height. As soon as we get furniture more permanently arranged, and are more settled, I think we'll have lots of fun doing projects on her height instead of having her standing on a chair to reach to counter. So here they are:



We are really glad that we can enjoy Logan's skills. Hooray for getting more settled in!

Visiting Some New Friends

As we are still working on getting past the sharing issues, it has helped my little girl to view others as 'friends' rather than as people who are trying to take her things. We had two new friend situations this last week. On Sunday, we had a regional conference for church, broadcast from Utah, where President Monson spoke about making sure no one feels left out or alone, and Elder Nelson spoke to the kids about following the prophet and doing what is right. There was a monitor set up in a classroom, and we got to watch in there with another family with small children close to Elise's age. At one point the little girl was eying Elise's quiet time books. Elise was on the verge of screaming that they were hers, but I suggested that she try to make a new friend, and pick a story to share with her new friend. She thought that was a good idea. She was even willing to share snacks later too. She told me later that day as we discussed the events at church, that she had made a new friend. I'm really glad that approach helped her not start screaming, but share instead.

The other event with new friends was on Monday evening. It was nice weather, so we took Elise to the park where there is a large pond and some ducks. She was incredibly excited. Daddy got to come with us, and we brought bread to feed the ducks. When we got out of the car, she started quacking. She could see the ducks, and she would yell, "QUACK!! HELLO!! QUACK!!" It was so funny. So, daddy and Elise sat on the bench and fed the ducks together. After a bit of practice she figured out how to tear the bread into small enough pieces for the birds to swallow them. They were very friendly. One even got brave enough to eat right out of her hand.......although she didn't know it was going to do that if she forgot to let go of the bread, so it kind of freaked her out, and she started throwing bread and pulling her hand back really quickly after that. She did great and had fun. Then, when the bread was all gone, she decided it would be ok to take a little walk. We started walking calmly along, until she saw the playground. Then she took off. She was so excited. She saw some kids playing on the climbing structure, and said, "Those my friends, let's go mama, let's play with them." We did. She got to climb all around, and go on the swings too. Then we walked around the pond, while she bounced and told us she was bouncing on her pogo stick. What a fun girl, and what a nice thing it is to be all together for an outdoor adventure in some nice weather!!!

A Couple Funny Things

My girl is a lot of fun. She says some pretty funny things too. We have been talking a lot about making new friends, and things it is friendly to do, like sharing. Yesterday we were having some dinner. She says to me, "I have some your rice." I gave her a bite after she had added please to her request. Then she said, "That's sharing, very friendly." Well, .......sort of, but I guess she's getting the concept.

We have also been exploring some new television show options. She's really gotten into Barney, and recently to Clifford. She LOVES Clifford. She gets really excited when we turn Clifford on. Logan asked how excited she was getting, whether it was teen girl---boy band excited. I think so, she shrieks and jumps up and down and shakes her fists. She is very excited. She also likes to pretend Clifford. She tells me she is Emily Elizabeth (Clifford's owner), and that she is playing with her big red dog Clifford in the back yard. Then she runs around the island in the kitchen telling Clifford to stop jumping on things. Apparently Clifford is very energetic, and she doesn't necessarily approve. It is pretty funny. Yesterday she was playing ball with her daddy and I. She would get the ball, pull back for a release, and say, "Catch big guy!" It took me a couple minutes to realize where this phrase came from. On Clifford, there are other dogs whom Clifford plays with. One is a poodle named Cleo. She calls Clifford 'big guy'. So, Elise was pretending Daddy was Clifford and Elise was 'Celo' (she has a hard time with two consonants in a row), and they were playing catch. It was pretty funny that daddy was 'big guy'....at least until today, when she started calling me 'big guy'.....hmmm not quite the same funniness happening there. Anyways, it has been cute to see her horizons expand. We still love Sesame Street, but heartily agree they need to start showing some new episodes, instead of the same 20, recycled every couple months. So, if you get the chance, check out Clifford. He is really helping us learn some fun things lately.

WE HAVE GOOD NEWS!!!!!

Thank you ever so much to two gentlemen, by the names of Hector and Pablo, who came over to our house to assist us yesterday.....They were incredible. They showed up about 10 am, worked steadily until about 2:30pm, and when they were done.....we finally have carpet in the 4 bedrooms and hallway in the back half of the house!!!!! This means many things...for one, the house now has the "new house smell", according to Logan. For another thing, we can now move back into the bedrooms. We've been all sleeping in the dining room/living room, and are ready to move back to the bedrooms. We also get to move in dressers, which means we can unpack the suitcases!!! We're incredibly excited, and are really really glad they came and conquered the project so quickly. The carpet looks great, and feels great. Elise is having fun dancing and running on it. She thinks it works good for kicking a ball around on. Hooray!!!!! Hooray for carpet!!! Hooray for Hector and Pablo!!!! So, now if anyone comes to visit, they are welcome to come, take off their shoes, and enjoy the luxurious feel of this lovely carpet!!!!

Evening Visitor

Yesterday evening, as we were finishing dinner, my husband casually says, "Oh, look. There is a bear in the neighbor's yard." He watches said bear, then goes to the back bedroom window to watch as the bear proceeded down the driveway, over the fence, through the back yard, and over the other fence of the house next door. He came back and reported the bears movements. I did not happen to have my glasses on at the time (I'm nearsighted.) We decided this was probably a good idea, since I'm already concerned about my girl and I walking over to the playground, outside, alone.....I don't need the visual of actually SEEING the big hairy animal in the yard next door. YIKES!!!! When does it get cold enough for them to hibernate, you may well ask. About the time that it gets too cold to enjoy a nice walk outside to the playground a couple blocks away.....

She's a Big Girl Now...

She did it!!!! All by herself!!!! - Ok, at least without either Logan nor myself. Elise went to nursery on Sunday, and stayed the whole two hours, and didn't cry or anything, and had a great time. She did it! What a grown up girl! She said she had fun, and came home and sang the song, "I am a Child of God" a few times, all by herself. (It was cute, especially the word mix ups, like 'parents kind of dear' instead of parents kind and dear.) They talked about how Heavenly Father had planned for us to come to earth and be in families. I told her I had missed her, that I had gone to my class while she went to hers. Later that evening when I asked her about nursery again, she told me she'd missed me too, and then we agreed that it can be fun to go to a big girl class and then see Mama afterwards. She told me also that she was going to look for her mother and brother and sister.....I think she may have gotten a little bit confused about how her actual family is a bit different from the 'family' they talked about in the lesson, but she got that families are important!

The other thing she is doing all by herself--singing the alphabet song. She learned to sing this while waiting "for the pizza to be done" in dance class. Now she sings it any time she is waiting. If she asks for something, but I ask her to wait a moment to fulfill the request, she sings the alphabet song. Yesterday, she was singing the song, and Logan tried to join in. She immediately stopped singing, asked him to stop singing, and said, "No Daddy, Elise is singing." Then she started back with A, and sang the song again. I guess there are just some things she really enjoys doing all by herself......I think that's because she's two years and seven months old now. She informed me that she wasn't a baby, she was Elise, and that her bed isn't a small bed, it is her big girl bed. What a fun girl!!!!
And we had a friend over for dinner yesterday, in gratitude for helping us with the house. Elise was a bit shy, but she gave her big smile, and after a while, she told me she'd made a new friend and pointed to this guy. It was pretty cute.

She has also tuned in to the different kinds of music. I had some Christmas music playing, and she said, "Mama, this is a Jesus Christ song." I thought that was an appropriate way to describe it. During Sacrament meeting yesterday, she was looking through the hymn book while we sang the sacrament hymn. She pointed to a hymn, and said, "This is a Jesus song." Then she turned the page, pointed to another hymn, and said, "This one is about Heavenly Father." She is so great! She has learned about giving prayers. Any time we tell her it is prayer time, she folds her arms and starts praying. She always is thankful for the food and all her blessings.....always. She starts and ends so fast, especially to get to the food, that we have a hard time adding anything. Frequently we have to say two prayers, one that she says, and one that we say. She is getting the idea though, and loves to be included, and especially to pray all by herself.

Oh, how fun. She's just a way fun girl and we are really enjoying seeing her grow up!