for the tooth fairy

First Girl lost two teeth at the beginning of April! Both on the top. Second Girl had two loose ones too.

Together they created things and placed them on the floor of their room for the tooth fairy to enjoy. Like when people leave a treat out for Santa Claus (who we don't talk much about in our family). It was so fun when I discovered what they had done. The cookies are bits of Larabar, and they made a little wardrobe with clothes that the tooth fairy could try on. I love their creativity!

They like to keep their teeth, but luckily the tooth fairy left First Girl some coins anyway. It was $1.75 in a sandwich bag with a tiny note.

She spent $1.08 of it on a Frozen harmonica (50% off).

September 1-15

Both of our girls love to play with this friend who lives right above us. There's something special about toys that aren't your own.

 

The way L walked over this was funny. The girls and I like to walk by the creek to look for the ducks. One day I asked L if we should go home. She said, "No go home. Ducks. Baby ducks."

 

This is my favorite tree near our home.

Nursery on Sept. 4 -- this must have been at the very end, since it doesn't look like any other toys were out. We have fun watching our daughter play, clean up, listen to the songs, etc. (nursery is our calling in the ward). 

That same Sunday, the day before Labor Day, some of us had dinner at my dad and step-mom's house. (There are 7 kids but only my younger sister and I and our little families came over.) We celebrated our brother's 13th birthday a little early.

Labor Day with my in-laws at Lava Hot Springs (we didn't take pictures of us four adults):

Some of our favorite friends came over and had dinner with us.

We love these fountains, where we had a play date with three other moms in the ward (not pictured). Their kids are each two or younger, and weren't all over the place like my four-and-a-half-year-old was, but I still got to chat with the moms.

I got this infant car seat at a yard sale for $20. That same week we found all the things below at Kid to Kid. I love premie / 5-8 pound clothing. It's just so tiny! Our babies have needed it because they have been about 6 pounds at birth. Maybe this baby will be about

the same size. (My husband was so cute the other day; he said, "I wanna meet her.")

Playing Metroid.

She did something she shouldn't have, so we made her clean it.

See my earrings at the bottom? She likes to hang things from lamps. 

On our way to play with another friend.

I made laundry soap (see instructions HERE), and it will save us a lot of money. The only thing we didn't already have was the Borax.

the challenge

Three months can be a long time. (But not as long as a deployment.) I participated in a wellness challenge competition that ended the middle of April. The goals of this challenge were "to provide motivation to get in better shape, and to encourage good habits." Each person kept track of their own points. We got one for each daily task that we did, but we could skip one task per day and still get a point for it (only exempting the same task up to three times a week). We each paid ten dollars for extra motivation -- so that the three people with the highest scores could have a prize.


DAILY TASKS:


1- Exercise at least 45 minutes: Any pre-decided form of exercise that you feel confident giving yourself a point for. Time can be split into increments as long as there’s 45 minutes daily.


2- Water: Drink at least half your body weight in ounces of water. No soda or alcohol.


3- Eat at least 2 servings of fruits and veggies: Fresh, frozen or dried are acceptable. Canned, V8, etc. doesn’t count.


4- No refined sugar.


5- No eating after 8 p.m.


6- Spiritual reading: At least 15 minutes.


7- Journal: Write in a personal journal or diary.


8- Gratitude: At least once, express sincere gratitude or appreciation to another. A casual “I love you” at the end of a phone call won’t cut it.


9- Spending: Track spending daily (write it down, keep receipts, etc.) and stay within a planned weekly budget.


10- Personal Goal: Any goal written down at the start of the day. (Dust house, write letter, spend an hour painting, weed yard, etc.)


#1 was a little challenging because I was used to exercising for less than 45 minutes. I had to get used to doing #7 and #10, too (well, honestly, #7 through #10). By far, the hardest were #4 and #5. I usually had refined sugar three days a week.


I'm glad that: 

• I was capable of doing all (most) of these things. I tried to manage my time well and do first things first, but a lot of times I did the goal, reading, journal writing, and even exercising after the kids were in bed.
• I really enjoyed getting back into writing in my journal (unfortunately I haven't since the challenge ended, but I will not let too much time go by without writing).
• I did feel good.
• I learned that tons of things have sugar in them. Or high-fructose corn syrup. Or both. 
• I will at least get back the $10 I paid.  I came in third place. I don't know how many were actually doing this in the beginning, but there were only three of us who stuck with it (kept emailing their scores every week). Congratulations to my friend who got perfect points!

Happy Veterans Day

I haven't posted for a while because we have been busy with some big changes in our life.

1) My father-in-law had surgery to remove a lipoma from his neck. We spent a couple of days watching their 5-and-a-half-year-old daughter Erika. He's doing fine now.
2) We sold our older car -- one reason we needed to is that . . .
3) D, my veteran, is going to be deployed again. They have not told us yet when he will be leaving (probably not until after Christmas) or where he will be going. We will be moving into his parents' house in order to save more money while he is gone. Shboogoo will share a room with Erika. Please pray for him and for us.

This post is short, so I'll add some of the lovely pictures we took this autumn -- my favorite season.

(He wears shorts even when it's cold.)

Because we have been given much, we, too, must give

There are several things I want to blog about. This is all for now, but stay tuned . . .

1. I don't know the Nielson family, but I've read about them on a couple of blogs and they need prayers and donations! If you click on that image you'll go to their site.

On Saturday, August 16, 2008, Stephanie Nielson was in a plane crash with her husband, Christian Nielson, and his flight instructor, Doug Kinneard, near St. Johns, Arizona. Doug Kinneard passed away soon after arriving at the Maricopa County Hospital.

Christian & Stephanie remain in critical condition at Maricopa Burn Center. Christian has sustained burns on over 30% of his body. His wife Stephanie’s body was burned over 80%.


2. If you have a PayPal account, I think you should give five cents to this man, an e-buddy of my husband's. Yep, he is asking for just a nickel at a time. Read THIS, you'll see. It's easy to do, and I'm pretty sure you can afford to give five cents. :.)