Two Years!

I can't believe two years have gone by since I posted last. I would love to post more of my craftiness, homeschooling, and adventures with children. We will see how long I can go for this time.

I discovered a new idea for a field trip with my sweet kids. Oxley Nature Center is a place full of exploration opportunities. We plan on making a few trips this year to explore butterflies, night using our senses (no flashlights), and evidence of wildlife. Since we live on the edge of woods, we will be able to apply our new knowledge right in our own backyard!

On another note, we are getting prepared for TWINS! Their arrival is scheduled for July 20th. We are hoping to see them a few weeks before that, though. Here is our latest twin purchase.

Look! I can blog from my phone!

An Eventful Week

This week was interesting. Brad, Lizzy's grandpa, has been sleeping in the office above the barn for 3 1/2 weeks. He woke up every hour to check on our mare to make sure she was okay and not in labor. Finally, Tuesday afternoon the labor began. It was an unusual labor. Horses are supposed to have their babies in about 20 minutes. She was in labor for 45 minutes. The baby colt finally landed on the ground, but he never stood. Rob and Brad took the horses to the vet hospital. Chocolate, the mare, had to be milked. The baby was bottle-fed. Thursday morning, Chocolate was put down due to complications from the delivery. As Lizzy says, "She went to live with Heavenly Father and Yoda (our dog). One day she will come back to life and we will see her again. At least she doesn't have any more pain." Friday morning, the baby colt died. Lizzy cried alot when she heard about Chocolate. When she heard about the baby colt, she said, "Well, now he's with his mom. They can be together." I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful that we have taught and Lizzy understands about life after death. I know some people don't believe animals will be resurrected, but I can't help but think they will. Animals make life sweet. I can only imagine how sweet it will be in the eternities.

Along the same timeline, our septic tank became clogged. Our plumber said the septic tank was full, but that didn't make much sense to us. When we showered, the water would back up in the tub. Poor Rob had to take a shower with my shower water standing at the bottom. Thursday night it was getting so bad, that Lizzy and I showered at the office above the barn. We felt like we were camping. Friday morning, the septic tank guy came out and discovered that our septic tank was not full, but clogged. He snaked out the clog, drained our septic tank, and left our bathroom in working order. I can honestly say, I was excited to get home and clean the bathroom. However, Rob beat me to it. He cleaned, dusted, and vacuumed the entire house. What a great guy!!!

Gardening

We have began planting our garden. Over spring break, Lizzy and I weeded many garden beds. Lizzy enjoyed it the first day, but became bored quickly. There were a lot of bees around trying to eat the nectar from the beautiful, purple clover flowers. She did not enjoy the bees or walking in the growing clover. She enjoyed making dirt castles in the barn, while I finished weeding.



The next day was much more pleasant. Our worker weed-eated around the beds. The only bees left were the ones wanting the flowers in the beds I was weeding. I would clear half of the bed, then Lizzy enjoyed helping me with her gardening tools. This time we brought her bike with us, so she was entertained after boredom set in.

A Bad Day

Yesterday was a normal, running the errands kind of day. First stop was a library in a not so good part of town. In my rush to get in and out of the library, Lizzy tripped and endured her first scrape of the season. Once we got into the library I cleaned and bandaged her up. I felt so bad that I rushed her in and didn't even have time to console her while outside.

Second stop, another library, another bad part of town. When we left the library, she had a bloody nose in the car. The blood dripped on her shirt. She decided she didn't like her new clothes anymore and wanted me to buy her a new outfit.

Third stop, Target. Luckily, nothing too horrible happened at Target. Maybe that is why we love the place so much.

Last stop, Walmart. I ran over her precious toe with the grocery cart. I felt sooo horrible for her. A nice surprise while we waited in the checkout line... Daddy walked up to check out, too. We didn't even know he was there!

At home, Lizzy decided to play outside. However, once again, while she opened the door, it scraped her other foot. She ended the day with a nice, safe visit to Nana and Grandpa's, where she was able to hold the new baby geese. She picked a tulip for Nana and enjoyed helping grandpa take the groceries into the house. I'm thankful the day ended well!

Baptism

Lizzy, Becca, and Bethany (cousins) are having a baptism. Carrot, Lizzy's bunny, turned 8 today. I am sitting in the living room listening to them play. Bethany is conducting. You can tell she has seen many baptisms. She sounds for real. Becca said the opening prayer. The opening song was Popcorn Popping. Lizzy gave a talk. (I hope Carrot can grow up and become a mommy someday.) Lizzy also baptized Carrot. Becca thought she was giving a talk, instead she bore her testimony. (I know this church is true. All the presidents are real and some of them died. I know my sister is being really ornery to me today. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.) There closing song was Do as I'm Doing. Lizzy said the closing prayer. She prayed that carrot would go under the water. Lizzy, with the help of her cousins, baptized Carrot in the baby's crib. Then they had a revival where all the animals/babies that wanted, got baptized.





Last night they had an art show. They even made a program. 1:00 was the art show. 1:10 was the Parrot show. We have a talking/singing parrot that they danced to. 1:30 was the horse show. This was a little skit, in which Becca stole a horse, they caught her and threw her in jail. It was very adorable!

Lizzy Updates

Lizzy is a beautiful and sweet (most of the time) 5 year old. We celebrated her birthday with close friends and family. She had a simple, yet fun, birthday party. Her big birthday present was a new bed! She generously suggested to give her crib to her baby brother. Up to now, she was sleeping in her crib with one side removed, like a daybed.

Some cute things she says...

Every time she eats the last bite of food, she says, "I wish I could plant a peanut butter cookie tree. That's all!"

"Mommy, you have been on the phone for years!"

She likes to hug my belly and say, "I love you cute little baby!"

She asks, "How old are you Mommy?" I say, "34." She says, "Wow!," with amazement in her voice.

She actually liked her dance class last week. Normally, she doesn't like it. I thnk she had the most fun ever, because she didn't do anything her teacher told her to do. Instead of sitting on her square after changing her shoes, she galloped across the back of the room. She was very happy. At the end, she said, "I don't want to leave. I had fun today!" I replied, "It's a miracle!"

Mrs. Ames, a 2nd grade teacher at my school, asked Lizzy what we are going to call the baby. Lizzy said, "Robert Marie Baker." That would be one very confused boy!

Yesterday we pulled weeds in the garden. She said, "Sometimes gardening is fun, but not that much." I just told her the real fun comes when we are able to plant, but we have to make the garden healthy first.

Baker #2

Oh my goodness! It has been tooooooo long! Not much has changed, but there has been a bit of change.

We are expecting Baker #2! We found out on President's day that the baby will be a boy. Lizzy went with us to the ultrasound. When she heard, "Looks like a little boy." She replied, "uuuhhh...," said with strong disappointment. She even had me convinced the baby was a girl. The gender took a bit of getting used to, but we are slowly getting accustomed to calling the baby a he, not a she. Now, we are just trying to think of names. Good thing we have until July!

We had to rethink our third room. Previously, it has been the "study," a place for books, videos, art, learning, extra toys, etc... After about a week of hard work and times of being overwhelmed, the room is mostly cleared out and looks like a kids' room. I will save the closet to clean out until Christmas, since it is filled with Christmas stuff. Lizzy loves the new room. I hope the baby doesn't mind her playing in there, but she has been for 5 years now. Pictures will come when I get a dresser, curtains, and bedding. That is mostly all that is missing.

Christmas!

Wow! Christmas with a three-year old is amazing! Lizzy's first Christmas was fun, as was the 2nd and third, but this one was awesome! She was completely thrilled with the idea of Santa. Of course, as her parents, we used the elves watching her a LOT. She is a good girl and definitely deserves to be on the nice list.

Lizzy was adament that she writes a list to Santa. I typed a letter to Santa on my iPod. It wasn't enough. She wrote a list of her own, in her beautiful 3 year old letters and left it out for Santa to find. She made sure to include asking for a candy cane for her babies.

Every present she opened was with a huge smile, a hug, and a "Oh, it's just what I wanted!" She said it very genuinely, too! She is so sweet. She played with polly pockets all day today. She also put together some puzzles and played Hungry, Hungry Hippos and "mUno" with me. (That is Uno, but with a m for some adorable reason.)

Soccer Practice

Thursday was Lizzy's first day of soccer practice! I was a little concerned that she would be the "daisy picker." She was not interested in playing soccer. I thought she would love it, I did. So, I signed her up through the YMCA. We get a free voucher to use toward a class every six months, so we used it for soccer. Every time I tried to pump her up about playing soccer, she said grumpily, "I don't want to play soccer." I tried a new approach. I got her excited to buy "soccer shoes," a.k.a., tennis shoes.

The day finally came to get soccer shoes. She was excited about that! We found cute purple soccer shoes. We went shopping on Labor Day evening. After four stores we went back to the first, only to find they closed early. Lizzy was sad and she cried. :( We went back the next day and got her purple "soccer shoes."

The day of soccer practice finally arrived. She was excited to get to run and be free in the grass. She didn't pick flowers... She danced. She spun and twirled and fell. It was adorable. I guess I have a dancer, not a daisy picker. I don't care. I guess we will enter her in dance, next time.

Then, the soccer balls came out! Lizzy had a blast! She kicked the ball from one white line all the way across the field to the other white line. She was always the last one back, but she had fun! She LOVED putting the ball into the Easter Basket (the soccer goal). All the balls were in the middle of the field. The kids ran to retrieve a soccer ball and kick it into the goal. The coach would always throw it back out and she'd go get another ball. She was always moving. She loved to play in the net (maybe she will be the goalie?).

Now, she loves soccer. She wanted to go to another soccer "game" when we were finished with practice. Going home did not sound fun to her. Maybe she is more like me than I thought!

Swimming

Check my fish out! I am so proud of her!

First Trip to the Dentist!

I have heard stories about children's visits to the dentist and adult's fears of the dentist. I was determined that Lizzy would not fear the dentist. I have been prepping her all week for her trip yesterday. I explained how the "dentist" (why talk about hygenists now, no offense to anyone) will look at her pretty white teeth. How the dentist will clean her teeth and make them even more white. On the way to the dentist office (which she connected that Grandpa has an office, too- a big plus!) I asked, "Lizzy, are you excited?!" Always smiling and encouraging the "correct" response. She was great while we filled out paperwork. Then, as she walked into the little room and she saw everything, she froze. I coaxed her in and Jessica, the hygenist, took over. She was AMAZING!!!!


Lizzy decided Raffie (the giraffe) needed gloves, too, just like Jessica and her. Of course, Raffie needed gloves on all four limbs.


It's time to count Raffie's teeth. Lizzy assists Jessica by handing her the mirror. FYI... Jessica informed us that a giraffe has 86 teeth.


Lizzy waits eagerly, asking, "What's next Mommy? What does she need?" Jessica is "cleaning" Raffie's teeth.


Lizzy begins to ask questions. Lizzy gets gauze to wipe Raffie's mouth.


Wiping of Raffie's mouth.


After all the prep work Jessica put in to showing Lizzy what will be done, it is Lizzy's turn. She lied on my chest the whole time.


"How much did Lizzy actually let Jessica do to her teeth?" you ask. EVERYTHING!!!!!! Counting the teeth (20 btw), using the sharp tool (Jessica showed her what it feels like on her fingernail), cleaning, swishing (don't know that she actually swished, but oh, well). She even let the actual dentist come in and check over her teeth!

I am very pleased. Jessica, at Modern Day Dental in Owasso, was FABULOUS!!!!! I highly recommend any parents trying to make it easier on their children to ask for her and take in a favorite animal. Lizzy happened to get the giraffe on Tuesday, the day before, at the zoo. I don't care if she takes a stuffed animal or even a baby doll around town with us, as long as people understand I've already paid for it. It was just a stroke of luck that we found such a wonderful hygenist and we happened to have Raffie with us. I will always have an animal, now, especially when we go to the pediatrician.

Blackberries for Lizzy

Lizzy has a video of books being read aloud from Scholastic. They use the actual books, but someone narrarates them on the video. Anyway, one of the stories is "Blueberries for Sal." Lizzy loves the story. So, when the Relief Society, women's organization, in our church decided it would be fun to go blackberry picking, I decided to help Lizzy make a "real-world connection" and took her blackberry picking (although in the book it IS blueberries). We went to the Owasso Tree and Berry Farm. We went a little earlier to avoid the crowds, heat, and to ensure a good harvest. We had loads of fun! We picked for about an hour, left, and decided to go back and get MORE!!! Lizzy was excited to go back and I am glad we did. We got lots more and much bigger berries the second time!

Lizzy couldn't wait to wear her gardening gloves. She had them on 15 minutes before we left the house. Apparently, though, she did NOT want her picture taken!


She's still clean and ready to pick!


The canes were thorny. I had to pull a lot of them out of the way for her to get to the berries. Most of the time, she was able to dig right in. Thank goodness for gardening gloves!


We had to make sure the berries were ALL black, no red or white. She did AWESOME!!!! She is a great blackberry picker.


One of Lizzy's bucketfulls. She actually ended up with about 4 full buckets.


Lizzy and Mommy after the first visit. The second time, my bucket was FULL!!!


Although, we finished about 10:30 in the morning, it was still in the 90s. The berry farm even allowed us to drink their water supply. The water was very refreshing. This is also the final count of all the berries we picked. Between the two of us, we picked 6 1/2 pounds of berries. Half of them are in the freezer for making jelly later in the year. We had fun and I am really glad we went.

Locked In!

Our house has two separate parts. We have the main living area and then, there is the "back porch." The back porch is inside the house, but we close it off with a door to keep the heat (or cold) out. This is also known as the laundry/dining room.

I was preparing baked potatoes for dinner Friday night. The potatoes were in the microwave and the broccoli was cooking on the stove. I went to check the laundry, with Lizzy in tow, as usual. At some point, Lizzy learned to lock doors. She decided to lock the door to the dining/laundry/back porch, before we went in. Upon completing the laundry task, we proceeded back to the kitchen. To my surprise, the door was locked. I tried a second time, no, I wasn't imaging anything.

"Lizzy, did you lock the door?"
"Yes, mommy."
"Lizzy, we don't lock this door. Now we are locked in the house. We are going to have to walk all the way down to Nana's, in our p.j.s, barefoot, on the gravel to get keys."

Yes, I am a mean mommy. I made her walk barefoot for a small portion of the path (we used grass when it was available) to Nana's house. All the way down, we talked about the importance of not locking the door and the natural consequences of choosing to lock the door again. (walking, barefoot, in our pjs, on the gravel, sweating in the heat)

Thankfully, Nana was home and we were able to get back in the house before the broccoli was too scorched or burned the house down.

Lizzy is lots of fun. I am grateful for the opportunities to teach her. I am especially grateful for the Holy Ghost which guides me to teach her in loving and kind ways. I could've easily lost my cool, got frustrated and angry, but what's the point?! I don't want her (or anyone) to be afraid to make a mistake. Mistakes are okay. As long as you learn from them and try not to repeat it.

The Sweetest Little Girl!!!!

Lizzy and I were playing under the umbrella after church today. Lizzy was pretending that it was raining, so we had to hide under the umbrella. We were both laying on the floor, when I felt a tickle in my nose. I blew just a little to get it out. Well,blood sprayed out of my nose. I quickly grabbed a kleenex and explained to Lizzy that my nose was bleeding. Being such a tender-hearted little girl, she followed me to the restroom.

Bloody noses happen occassionally with me. I don't know why, but they usually clear up pretty quickly. This time, however, was different. I kept wiping, blowing, squeezing, etc... All the things I always do. Nothing was working. It actually appeared to be getting worse. Lizzy was so sweet. She began to get the toilet paper for me. "Do you need more, Mommy?" She would ask. She even said, "Don't get it on your pretty shirt. Your shirt is so pretty." She gave me lots of kisses. She even rubbed my back. When it was alll done. She said, "Here Mommy, give me a hug." Then she kissed my nose, "so it won't keep bleeding."

I am so happy that we have such a sweet child. She is constantly surprising me with her thoughtfulness and tenderness. I love her!!!!!!!

Fireflies

Last night, I was about to give Lizzy a bath, when Rob called. (He went to the barn to give a horse a shot, to make her ovulate. Long story. Welcome to the horse business.) He said the fireflies were out. I quickly got Lizzy and we went outside, barefoot. Barefoot is not such a big deal if you live in the city, but we have geese. They poop, green poop, all over the place. Anyway, Lizzy and I went out barefoot into the grass. Then, I had a fabulous idea. We ran inside and grabbed our bug catcher. (It's just a container designed to hold bugs, holes, string for holding it around your neck, etc...) We began to catch fireflies. Lizzy and I caught six fireflies. Then, Papa came home. He helped us catch four more and some we accidentally let out. It was so much fun. Rob was very surprised that we were outside catching fireflies and extremely surprised that I let Lizzy into the grass barefoot. Even more to his astonishment was that I was barefoot in the grass. I have always told him I like to be outside and in the grass, but I don't like to be eaten. We did have bugspray on, though. I can't go without that.

We had fun creating a family memory. Soon, I will post pictures to follow. We left the camera at Nana and Grandpa's house when we showed them the fireflies. One of the pictures, of me catching a firefly, you can actually see a little dot of a glow in the sky. It is really cool. VERY FUN!!! Go outside and catch fireflies tonight. (If you live in the plains!)

Lizzy Ice Skating

Ice Skating

Lizzy finished her first set of swim lessons last Saturday. Now, we finally get to sleep in... But wait, a new idea!

Rob has been coaching ice skating for several months, now. He used to do it right after school, so Lizzy and I could never make it there. He recently picked up a class on Saturday mornings. Now, that swim lessons are over, Lizzy and I went to watch Papa teach today. We were too late to watch, but Rob put the smallest pair of ice skates available, size 7, too big, on Lizzy and took her out on the ice. Lizzy was so excited. She immediately stopped watching her Saturday morning cartoon and promptly walked to the door when I said, "Let's go ice skating."

At first, on the ice, she didn't know what to think. As she kept trying to "march" or "walk" on the ice, she would slip. Rob always had her hands, but the fear was coming in her eyes. After about 5 minutes, Rob just skated around with her, holding her hands, and letting her "glide" across the ice. She really enjoyed that. Her comment, "Next time, will you please not help me Papa. I want to do it all by myself. I will go really far away (on the ice) and come back to my Mommy." Rob said, "Okay." I have a feeling she will be wanting help after the first few slips or falls. :(

A Date!

Rob and I went to the temple today. I felt bad falling asleep in the car on the way to OKC, but I was tired. We helped clean the temple after our session, then, we actually went out to a sit-down restaurant. We ate at Johnny Carino's. Everyone has been talking about how good it is. I wasn't that impressed. Rob liked his food, though. Then, we talked the entire two hours home. We listened to my ipod on the way home. I like my selection of music, but having Rob in the car made me realize how many chic songs I have on my ipod. I tried to find a man song, but I just had a lot of school songs. Poor Rob. We finally found, I Like to Move It! and that Beach Boys song, Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya...

At the restaurant we saw another 3 year old with an adorable hair cut. Her mom let me take a picture of her hair with my cell phone. I made a deal with myself. After I lose 9 pounds, I get to cut my hair way cute. Lizzy can get her hair cut at the same time. I don't want to force waiting on her, so maybe that will help motivate me.

I really had a good time. Maybe we will get to go on another date soon.

Waiting for the Shower

Usually, for Sundays, I shower the night before. However, I was too tired. So now I am waiting for the shower. I may as well blog!

Yesterday we saw family for an Easter get-together. Lizzy was very nervous before and upon arrival. She doesn't remember meeting a lot of her cousins and grandparents. She quickly warmed up when hunting for easter eggs. She didn't actually find a whole lot, neither did Lenora's girls and Jared. So, I hid all their eggs again and again. We searched for eggs 3 times. They had a lot of fun. Lizzy didn't end up with a whole lot, but she just likes to find the eggs. She didn't care how many she got. She really enjoyed her time with the cousins. As we left, I asked if she liked her grandparents. She said, "Yes!" Then, she said, "I have TWO granpas and TWO nanas," not to mention all the cousins. She has around 25 (give or take a few) cousins just on my side. She has almost 10 on Rob's side. She is lucky to have such a big family.

As I grew up, I only saw my grandparents a couple of times a year. Mostly, I saw cousins at funerals and there weren't a lot of cousins. I have never met the cousins from my mom's side. They all live so far away. I have met my mom's parents a couple of times. I am so glad Lizzy has a different life. I didn't think I missed a lot, but she loves spending time with them. She loves to go see her cousins.