New Jobs

Last week I was called to be 1st Counselor in the Relief Society (losing my coveted Primary pianist job) and I am excited about the calling. Then this week Steve was called as the Elders Quorum 1st Counselor. Could be busy around here for this family! Thankfully Katie has learned to love nursery and Sarah gets to start going in about 6 weeks. :)

Going Public

I have decided, at least for now, to let my blog be public without restrictions. I have had a few people tell me the site was giving them issues about signing in, so as long as I don't have any troubles, I'll probably leave it open. We shall see...

A few things I've learned

Here are a few things I have learned lately.
1) do not buy paint from Walmart. You get what you pay for (our black paint ended up being rather dark gray- even after 3 coats)
2) I really like Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream, and the commissary sells it for only $2. Yummmmm....
3) I really like "Simply Apple" by the makers of "Simply Orange" and "Simply Lemonade". I never knew there was pasteurized apple juice that actually tastes like apple cider. Sooooooo yummy.
4) my voice must be on mute until I get to the point of almost yelling. My girls are pros at tuning me out until I reach that point.
5) diapers are insanely expensive. It is definitely time to press the issue of potty training Katie.

Steve took his GRE on Saturday and did really well. I am very proud of him. Now he's in the middle of getting letters of recommendation and filling out applications. We decided to apply to (in order of priority): University of Illinois (ideal), Georgia Tech, Purdue and BYU. I am anxious to get this next stage rolling so we can figure out where we will be next. Ah, the life of the military is never without some suspense.

So Saturday we took everyone over to Lawrence (at the University of Kansas campus) so Steve could take his test. Then we continued to Kansas City to go to "Worlds of Fun" and "Oceans of Fun". They were having a special military appreciation deal. We only had to pay for Ellie, which still ended up being $32. But those two parks were great! There were some fun rollercoasters that Steve went on and really enjoyed (he had to ride one twice so he could be in the front row to get the full thrill). And then there was a really fun "Snoopy Land" for the little kids. I was thoroughly impressed with this area. Lots of rides for little ones. We were even able to put Sarah on a couple of them and she had a blast! All three girls could have stayed there the whole day riding on the bugs, cars, swings, boats, airplanes, etc. We brought the camera, but figured it was safer to just leave it in the car. I just wish we could have caught the excited expressions on the girls faces as they rode. We strolled over to Oceans of Fun next and after changing into our suits played in the water for just an hour or so. Except for the little kiddie fort it was geared for the older crowd mostly (including a swim-up bar), and since the girls had to be in life jackets for everything it was more work than we felt it was worth. Plus, it was getting late and we still had a 2 1/2 hour drive ahead of us. It really was a great day, though. I'm glad we decided to go. We haven't done a lot of exciting adventures this summer, so this was a great way to end the swim season.

Worst Mom of the Year Award

That is what I felt I deserved on Wednesday. I took Ellie and Katie over to Topeka (an hour away) to see the dentist. I drove all the way there because I had a great reference for a Pediatric Dentist, and I had a horrible experience with a dentist here in the area. So we were up early and out the door before 8am. I knew Ellie had one spot on her teeth that had probably progressed into a cavity. Well, she was a champ getting her teeth cleaned. She thought being in the big chair was very cool. The only reason I took Katie was to get her tooth checked out that she injured a couple months ago. The dentist said it looked fine and not to worry. Well, then the dentist told me the verdict on Ellie. I couldn't believe it- 3 crowns and one cavity filled. Yikes! I was dumbfounded. We try our best to take care of those teeth, too. No fruit snacks anymore, brush extremely well each night and even use a fluoride rinse every night to keep them strong. Obviously to no avail. I was seriously devastated. That wasn't the worst part. We took a 2 hour break (they were able to get us an appointment that afternoon to get the work done so we didn't have to drive back) and then they got to work. I was not allowed back in the room with her, but I thought she would do just fine. Well, an hour later they came and got me. This is when I knew I was the worst mom EVER. They had done the filling and Ellie did great. But it was time for the crowns and Ellie wanted nothing to do with it. I guess she was pulling at the instruments and squirming and making it impossible to work on her. So the dentist wanted to know if they could use a restraining blanket on her. Okay- so I'm crying now just thinking about it. I just about lost it there as well. Of course I consented, because she needed it done and the nitrous oxide wasn't doing anything to calm her down. Another hour later I was called back and there was little Ellie with a very numb cheek and the most sad face I've ever seen. How could I put my little girl through that? Who lets their child's teeth get that bad by age 4? So yeah, still beating myself up about it.

Amazingly Ellie has recovered like a champ. We got her some Ibuprofin and by the time she took the hour-long catnap on the ride home (we didn't get back until almost 5pm) she was back to her old self and hasn't complained since. She talked of soreness that evening at dinner, but nothing else. We joke about how she got crowns on her teeth instead of on her head like most princesses. She thinks that's funny. I never got my first cavity until I was 27, so this is all so unfamiliar and... sad. My poor metal-mouthed girl.

So yeah, not the kind of award I was hoping for this week, but I will accept it dutifully and do my best to try and not let it happen again.

stinky?

We were driving home from church yesterday and Katie scrunched up her nose and said, "something is stinky." I didn't have any ideas, but I heard Ellie whisper quietly to Katie, "I think maybe it's Daddy." We laughed about that one the rest of the way home. Poor Steve...

A quick one

Almost another month already? I've been putting this off and putting this off, thinking I'll have time to get pictures together and really tell how awesome our vacation with Mom, Dad and DickSybil was. But alas, I keep getting distracted with things like curtains for the girls' closet, Stephanie Meyer books, and the usual running around like crazy trying to keep this house clean and still have fun with the girls.

So a few little things, I suppose.

Steve has been really busy with work the last few weeks. Lots of micromanaging from the Brigade Colonel is making things a little tougher on him. Then he comes home and has to study for that rotten GRE. He is being extremely diligent, and he deserves to do very well on that test. He's just tired of all those tricky math questions. Then on top of that he has built me two book shelves, put up that last side of the fence and lets me sleep in when he can. Talk about super-hubby!

We were watching a friend's 3 kids this evening and they were eating dinner with us. Steve told those 3 kids to do something... I honestly can't remember now... and they sort of laughed at it. Ellie very seriously interjected and said- "alright, you'd better listen, because Dad's the boss." So funny... Steve is always saying that I'm the one the girls actually listen to (they have a tendency to come to me and ask me to have Steve do something for them. I'm constantly telling them to just go and ask their dad themselves!)

Katie is for some reason frightened of going to the bathroom in the toilet. But on the same token she wants to wear underwear more than anything. In fact, a couple times I have caught her wearing Ellie's underwear, hidden under her clothes, of course. I know she could do it- the one time I was unaware of this little item of clothing, she started to beg me to put a diaper on her. She had to go to the bathroom and didn't want to get the underwear all wet. So yeah, not sure what the fear is there. She'll sit on it forever, if you really wanted her to. Just won't "go". She is amazingly talented at saying prayers. She's sometimes more articulate than Ellie. Have I mentioned that before?

Sarah just cracks me up. Her facial expressions... are no less amusing than her sisters'. She doesn't actually say the words, but she always grunts her "please and thank you." If you ask a positive question, she'll say uh huh. She still gets ecstatic when Steve comes home and insists on standing outside when he leaves so she can wave good-bye. I just can't get over what a sweet little girl she is. She knows how to crawl around and bark like a dog, right along with her sisters. She can "play dead" and wait for that magical kiss from her sisters to wake her up (for a limited amount of time, of course). She can run now, which is so fun to watch. She yells at her sisters when they're getting too far away on their bikes, or if she wants to call them. It's always a yell and it sounds kind of like "Ah-yah". I think it's for both girls, but definitely for Ellie.

Random facts... Favorite foods:
Ellie- she told us it was turkey and cheese. She also loves strawberries and mac and cheese.
Katie- Definitely mac and cheese, although she likes pizza almost as much as I do.
Sarah- Food. There is very little (besides mashed potatoes) that the girl won't eat. But if I had to pick a favorite: grapes. She would eat grapes all day long if I let her.

And they all love colored marshmallows. It's been the latest after-nap snack. Sarah will eat hers then come up to me and say, "uh- mah". I ask her to say please and she gets that big, irresistible grin on her face and makes the sign for "more". Hey- works for me!

My goal for my next post is to brag about what a great time with had with family here. No promises, but it's a good goal. And I'll try to get pictures as well. Steve's using a new photo sorting software that I haven't played with, which makes it a little intimidating at the moment.