SNOW

Yes, it does snow in Las Vegas and Aly spent most of the afternoon outside playing.

Here, Aly is catching a "snowman".

 

Our typical desert landscape wasn't so typical today. It was quite the winter wonderland.

 

Making a snowman, dog, rabbit . . . snow creature with Shalene Wolfe

 

One happy girl

 

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Our little gymnast

We've enrolled Aly in a "tiny tumbler" class at the local community center. There are eight to ten 2-4 year olds in the class and they are entertaining.

Here is the awe inspiring warm up. Gotta save up some of that enthusiasm!

 


Now, this pic makes it look like she doesn't know what to do on the spring board. Trust us, she knows how to bounce on the spring board. We just have to convince her to use it to spring her onto something.

 

Here she is on the mini tramp. See, we told you she knows how to bounce.

 

And finally, her favorite apparatus, the bar. She loves to swing on it and do flips.

 

Aly is THREE

OK, I am finally going to blog again. Let's see if I can blog this whole week and get some things caught up.

Aly finally turned three years old. She helped her dad open up the box containing her new kitchen.
 








She appears to be quite the ham as she familiarizes herself with all the bells and whistles of this new "toy".
 







Although she can also get quite serious while she whips up a smoothie.
 






And of course we can't forget the box it all came in. The best present of all is the box!
 

Word Verification

What is this "word verification" we have whenever we post a comment? I've been catching up on a few blogs (and finding a few new ones). Every time I post a comment I have to verify the jumbled, italic, strange looking letters before my comment will be accepted. Will one of my more experienced blogging friends please explain to me the purpose for this nonsense? There are times when I can't tell what the letter is supposed to be. So the blogger "security" changes the "word" and I type in the new word. Why? I'm beginning to think I am dyslexic trying to figure out those strange figures they call letters. Just my brain rattling for the evening.

Potty Training

The last couple of weeks, Aly and I have been trying the potty training.(Levi gets to help on the weekends.) We have tried it before, but I always gave up after the fourth clean up during the first day. So I decided that MY pride would not allow me to see Aly in diapers on her third birthday. With pep talks from those experienced in the "training of potty" and a new sense of determination we began training again on the 14th of Aug. By the fourth day after Aly had stood in the master bathroom "toilet closet" and peed in front of the toilet without telling me she needed to go potty I broke into tears. I had lost all my patience. "Don't yell at the child" I kept repeating to myself. Aly came out of the bathroom and patted me on the shoulder and said "It's OK mommy." So through my tears I explained in a calm voice why it wasn't OK. Ever since then she has been pretty good. Had I known my crying would help I would have done that on the second day. She still has small accidents, but she does tell me when she has to go. The #2 potty is still an issue. I left her with a friend two days ago while I ran some errands. She has a three year old who is going through separation anxiety from her older siblings returning to school. So I left Aly there while I finished delivering some notes. Twenty minutes later when I returned and we went upstairs to see what the girls had been doing, there was the ever present odor of poop. I knew it was Aly and when I picked her up, she was wet down the inside of her capris and the stench was definitely coming from her. I said my thanks and apologies (no leaks thank goodness), and took Aly out to the car where I had the spare panties and wipes, etc. Oh My Goodness!!!!! You'd think the girl had stored up the #2 for a few days!!!! No little girl her size should be able to perform this fab body function without losing five pounds. Talk about a "dump". So now I have to drive home with the pile on my floorboard. When I got home the panties went into the toilet. I was honestly going to rinse them out with a few flushes like the old days with the cloth diapers, but by the third flush I lost my dainty hold and the panties were gone. Oops. There's got to be a better way to potty train. When I create my universe I hope I will have figured it out. Maybe this is God's way of getting back at me for something foolish I did in the pre-existence. I'll let you know how "we" do after our next road trip. . . . . Heaven help us!

bachler pad

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Alone in RS & photos

My wonderful RS counselors and secretary found a way to help me appreciate them all the more. They all left town and I was the lone leader sitting in the front of the RS sisters today. So no Sunday School for me. I was handing out announcements, answering questions in the hallway, finding someone with keys to our closet, and setting up the class room. I knew I would be alone, so I at least read the lesson last night just in case the teacher didn't show up for some odd reason. (She was there and did a fantastic job as usual. Thanks Cammy!) So who came to visit our RS today UNannounced?! You guessed it . . . our Stake RS Pres and her secretary! Good thing I feel very comfortable with them, and good thing they really like our ward. I'm sure I'll find an appropriate way to repay my friends Boedee, Kendra and Lisa. Let's see. Have I mentioned that I may be out of town the first Sunday in September?

For those of you who don't live here, I recently cut my hair. I have had a lot of complements, and I love it! It pays to have a great neighbor who knows how to whip those scissors around. Thanks Cherity!
 
 







Here are some cute photos of Aly.




Who can pass up a pic of the bath time bubble goatee?
 







Aly and I have been swimming a lot this summer. Probably should have spent more time potty training.
 

Which Disney Princess are you?

You Are Pocahantas!

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement. (I think I know a few of you that may believe this, but I'm not sure . . . .)

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Check out my Slide Show!

FIREWORKS

Finally it got dark enough and Aly was ready to go outside with everyone to enjoy the fireworks display. The sparklers were brought out first. Aly was enjoying them, but then must have gotten spooked.

 

She wanted to go inside the house, but I convinced her that the steps on the front porch were safe enough. Of course she actually sat in my lap through most of it. This was a rare moment when I was able to peal myself away to snap a shot of her.

 

Petting Zoo on the way

PETTING ZOO
On our way up to Logan we needed to kill some time. We ended up at a place with a small petting zoo. Aly would have stayed on the horse all day if we had had the time. Along with the horse, she loved the goats, geese, and pigs.

 

 

 

 

Getting Ready for the trip

We spent our Fourth of July with the Bachler family.
So you would think that getting ready for the trip would be easy.
Not with an active two year old.
She took daddy's shoes & socks out of the garment bag and tried them on.
Kinda slowed down our packing process, but sure made a cute photo.

Then during the drive to be with family, we stopped at a McDonald's for a much
needed break from the car seat.
Aly's head is sticking out where you would
normally toss in a ball. She has climbed into the hole at the bottom and
wormed her way up on the pegs to peek out of the opening.
(Make sense?)

Time with Daddy

See you in the funny papers!

Father's Day

This little angel is quite the ham. She enjoys wearing her daddy's hat.

Joining The Ranks

Since everyone else seems to be blogging, we figured we better get in on the action. We're actually hoping to be able to share more photos and useless info with our family and friends all over the United States. We'll see if we are able to keep this updated so we can achieve that goal.