Disney on Ice: Princess Style

Last week we had the opportunity to go to Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream up in SLC with my Mom, sister, sister-in-law and her kids.  Being a bunch of girls who love princesses certainly made for a fun trip!  We started out the evening by going to dinner at the Cheesecake factory--yummy!  After way too much good food and cheesecake and too much begging of the little girls to eat (I think they were way to excited to see the princesses)--we set off for the show.

Before the show with their new lights...

All these two could talk about was how they wanted to see Rapunzel. In fact they did 2 stories and then had an intermission.  Poor Maddi thought the show was over and was so sad because she did not get to see Rapunzel yet.  We tried explaining it was not over, they were just taking a break.  

Stinkin' cute toddlers!

The girls with their Grandma

Me and my girls...

Maddi, Marly and Manda enjoying their snowcone!

"Mama, look there's Cinderella and her handsome prince!"

We tried to stage this picture...they were not playing along with us!

Jade had to sit in this seat because it had a #3 on it--she told me she had to sit there because she was 3 years old. :)

Our seats were a bit further away than we would have liked, but it the girls could still see the show and everything going on.  They were absolutely mesmorized the entire time!

A few of the kids favorite parts of the show...

After the show we staged another cousin picture...this one shows everyone's true state of tiredness...

This one--we did get some smiles!

And finally, back at the car, changed into comfy jammies and strapped in for the ride home, the girls did not make it 10 minutes down the road before falling asleep.  I laughed when I looked back to find this...

Literally worn right out--but what a fun memory we created today!

Cousin Fun

The girls had tons of fun when their cousins came to stay with us for a few days.  We took them to Classic Fun Center and they bounced until they dropped!

Marly had so much fun!

The little ones loved driving this car. They probably could have sat in here all day.

Kiera loved bouncing and playing upside down in this little gauntlet thing.

The big girls were super brave and tried this giant dinosaur slide.  Maddi makes Jade brave because this is one slide Jade never wanted to go down on her own.  They must have gone done 20+ times--and they giggled the whole way down!

Kiera likes to go down slides head first on her belly!  She really enjoyed this one...

They were so dirty at the end of the day, we just threw all four of them in the tub! Now that is a full tub and let's just say not much water was left inside when they were done!

FHE backfire

We have been doing little mini-lessons for FHE on topics that we are noticing we (the girls) need some help with.  A few weeks ago we did a lesson on choices and how it nice to make good choices. Each time the girls made a good choice they got to put a cotton ball in a jar and when it gets full we do fun family activities together.  Well, this was such a hit that we thought we could a lesson on being a good listener!  HA, HA!

The lesson started out great...Ben told the story of Helaman's Stripling warriors and how they listened and obeyed their Mothers.  Then we tried playing Simon Says but they just didn't get it...so we switched to Do as I'm Doing and that was much more successful.  After that our activity was to make cookies...we wanted a good object lesson on following directions and listening.  Ben and I came up with a brilliant plan to set out all the ingredients needed and let the girls make the cookies.  They happily set to work...

Our plan was working perfectly as they put in lots of flour, tons of salt and way too much baking powder. They did not add any sugar but made sure to add the chocolate chips and butter!  So we thought...these cookies will taste horrible and then when the girls spit them out we can explain how good it is to follow instructions and listen.  Then we would help them by reading the recipe for the cookies and make some yummy ones.

Well...did it work, you ask?  After 8 min. of cooking they cookies looked much more like biscuits.  The girls could not wait one more second to eat their cookies so they eagerly took a huge bite.  Jade immediately got a big grin, chewed it up well, ate the rest of her cookie and asked for another one. Kiera chewed on hers for a bit and then secretly spit it out, but then kept asking for more.  Ben and I just looked at each other and laughed....maybe they weren't ruined enough. So I took a bite out of one of them and immediately spit it out, the salt taste was so strong it turned my mouth inside out.  I have no idea how Jade was just munching them down...she must have an affinity for salt!  Anywho, our plan backfired and our wonderfully crafted object lesson failed.  We decided to let it rest and after we let them enjoy one more cookie we threw the rest away.  

I have to say though that Jade has been quite a good listener this week.  I usually one have to give her one reminder and then she remembers to listen and make good choices.  It is funny though because she will ask me, "what did you say?" alot after I say something.  I think she is getting the idea.  

And now before she starts talking she will usually start with "I'm going to tell you a story..."  All I can figure is we have been talking about not whining or tattling and so she figures if she just tells us a story that it is not whining.  Too stinkin' cute and such a smartie!

Kiera's favorite game

Recently Kiera's favorite game to play is Peek-a-boo, she will play it anytime, anywhere and with anyone!  In fact we were at the park the other day and she just started playing with a random stranger.

 

She takes great joy and pride in finding the tiniest places to hide and squeeze herself into...

Daddy's new popcorn machine

You know we love popcorn in our family, but since we have been trying to eat healthier we decided that the oil popped popcorn that we popped in our pot was probably not the best snack for us.  Not being able to do without his popcorn though, Ben bought an air popper!  The girls absolutely love this little machine and giggle incessantly as they watch the kernals pop.  Oh the simple joy of being small!

Everyone gets their own bowl...

Dates with Mommy & Daddy

Yesterday we decided that it would be fun to give the girls some alone time with either Mommy or Daddy.  I had a work activity to go to up in SLC so I took Jade with me and we had a fun lunch together and then went to the Safe Kids Fair.  She was so excited to sit in all of the police cars, fire engines and school busses.  She got to sit in the driver seat of each vehicle and made sure to buckle up her seat belt--I think that was her favorite part!  We even stood in a super long line to get a balloon animal made--she choose to him the guy make Rapunzel.  I think he did a pretty great job!

 

Daddy and Kiera also got to go on a date.  They went to Utah Lake and also to 3 different parks!  Look how much fun Kiera had walking on the frozen lake...

Daddy made sure to throw a big rock to make sure the ice was safe to walk on!

 

Watching Uncle Cole...

Last weekend we traveled up to E-town to see my little brother Cole's last home basketball games.  Here are some action shots of him...

 We watched alot of basketball this weekend and the girls went a little crazy trying to sit in one spot on the bleachers for that long!  I was about insane trying to corral them but we had fun with my family! They both loved clapping cheering for Uncle Cole at all of the games. Jade kept telling us how she did not like watching basketball but she really liked watching the cheerleaders.  I think she will be the music/dance girl when she gets older and Kiera will be our little aggressive ball player...but who knows! Jade was mesmerized by their pom-poms and often tried to do the jumps and stunts that they were doing up in her seat.  Great-Grandma pulled out Aunt Val's old cheerleading pom-poms from the early 90's!  We were surprised with how big and heavy they used to be.  The ones Jade saw the cheerleaders using now looked like little bath sponges (that is what she kept calling them)!  We will have to get her a set of her own "sponges," a.k.a. pom-poms.

Love these girls!

 I am reminded on a daily basis how sweet and truly innocent little children are.  They do not hold grudges, they forgive in an instant, and saying "I'm sorry" and a hug/kiss makes ANYTHING better.

I am blessed to be able to stay home with my two girls and some days I forget this.  I have been reflecting alot lately on why I do not feel thrilled, am drained of my energy, and just feel at my wits end most days.  I am constantly chasing kids, cooking, making them eat (sometimes sitting at the table for hours), changing diapers or accidents, doing endless loads of laundry.  I am trying to do my best but it never feels good enough and most days I am not sure if what I am teaching them is getting through, because they do the naughty thing again in a few minutes or seem not to listen.

BUT...then I have moments when I do see they are learning and listening to me.  I get sweet hugs and kisses from Jade and a whispered, "I love you."  Once when I was so upset and probably yelling more than I should have been, she just simply came up to me, stood in front of me and said, "Mama, I love you."  How can you be mad at that?  

I get a rare snuggle with Kiera when she needs comfort or a laugh of pure joy when she is doing something she enjoys.  

I am trying to stop more and be like a little child and enjoy the little things.  The other day we were at the mall playground and Jade reminded me of how meek and innocent little kids are.  She is good at making a little friend wherever we go because she is so chatty or just follows the other kids around until they let her play.  But that day, she decided to go up to a random stranger and grab her hand and just start chatting to her. I of course was alarmed at how trusting she is of complete strangers.  I explained to her that we do not do this.  She did not understand and it made me think what has become of our world.  How scary it is and you never know who the crazy ones are or who will hurt you.  We as adults are always skeptical and wondering about others.  Jade showed me how little children are so trusting and loving just like the Savior.  No wonder he wants us to become as little children.  How wonderful would our world be if we were more like Jade was this day.  It made me think, when does the change happen in us, when do we become so untrusting of others and in a way a selfish?  Ben had a good thought, it happens that first time someone is mean to us or loses our trust.  I am so grateful for these moments that I have with my children and for the ways they teach me to be more Christlike.  I hope I can learn all I need to from them--I used to think that because I was an adult and now that I am old, been through college, had a job, got married and started a family I knew alot.  However, I am learning I did not really know much at all.