Bug

We got the bug too. Not fun. Like my sister I have piles of laundry to do and it's only 11am. Right now it seems to only be Leland and hopefully it doesn't spread to Lucy. Poor kids.

Incident #1 - next to our bed on my foot. It was all between my toes.
Incident #2 - LJ was in my lap and it went all over my shoulder, arm, and down my leg
Incident #3 - I caught in my hands before getting her to the trash can

Oh the joys of being a mom!

Green Eggs and Ham

Leland really likes the book "Green Eggs and Ham". We like to quote it during dinner time a lot when she says she doesn't like something and refuses to eat.

"Try them! Try them! And you may. Try them and you may I say."

Last night we were having breakfast for dinner so I asked Leland if she wanted to really eat green eggs and ham. She thought that was so neat. She helped Chuck put green food coloring in the eggs for her omelet.


While eating she would say "I like green eggs and ham!!" with a big smile on her face.

Fun Times

It is so much fun to watch our girls play together. Leland loves Lucy so much and wants her to run around with her so bad. Their new favorite thing is to take a bath together. We have always just had them shower with one of us, but now that Leland knows how much fun a bath can be she wants one all the time.

A recent conversation with Leland:

LJ : (while pulling on Lucy's arm) Get up Lucy!
Mom: She can't get up Leland. Please let go of her arm.
LJ: No, I want her to get up.
Mom: Well sweetie, she's not big enough to stand up.
LJ: But I want her to be big like me so I can play with her.

My Aunt Barbara got us a little wagon that is supposed to be for Legos, but Leland found a much more fun thing to do. She calls them "Donkey Rides"


On Monday we went to Harrisonburg for a few hours to visit with my sister Christine and her family. Todd's parents live there. He took the kids out on a ride on the Gator. They had so much fun. Leland loves visiting her cousins.

Pleasant Sunday

Sunday Chuck and I both gave talks is Sacrament meeting. We were supposed to give them last week, but since we were sick we were able to postpone them. I usually am pretty nervous about speaking in church but I felt very prepared and wasn't that nervous. During the beginning of Sacrament meeting I sat with the girls in the congregation and Chuck sat on the stand. I had asked some friends to sit with us to help with the girls while we were speaking. It was a little weird to go from the congregation directly to the pulpit because your not as prepared for the amount of people that are there. I spoke on prayer and building a testimony, Chuck spoke on "Be strong, Be courageous"

After church we decided to do another drive through the countryside. It was so nice. I really love the farms and rolling hills. We were out during sunset so it made for some gorgeous views. Leland enjoys seeing all the cows, although the other days as we were driving she kept saying that she saw rhinos. I kept telling her no that they were cows, but she insisted that they were rhinos.

Pres. Hinckley passed away

This evening we received a call from Chuck's sister in Las Vegas to tell us the sad news of the passing of our Prophet and leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Gordon B Hinckley. He was 97 and has led our church since 1995. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and the direction that this man has given to me in my life. I know that he has had a joyful reunion with his sweet wife, Marjorie.

We miss Nana

This week my mom (Nana) came to visit for a few days. It was so nice to have her here. She brought a tea party set so we had a fun little tea party for the girls with milk and apple cobbler with whip cream. Leland thought it was so fun.

Nana is great with her grand kids. She loves teaching and reading to them. Leland loved all the attention and Chuck and I enjoyed having someone else help with the girls. They would wake up early and I would take them out to see Nana and then go back to bed. By the 3rd morning Leland went straight to Nana and did not even come into our room.

While my mom was here we took a stroll through Lexington with a stop at Blue Sky Bakery (we had the best turtle brownie), she tagged along to Tuesday Night Ladies Club with the Law wives, she met Leland's Joy school friends, we took a walk in Buena Vista visiting Just a Nibble and Value Mart (consignment shop), and went to Charlottesville to have lunch with Aunt (her sister) Barbara.


The best find at the Consignment shop was a Princess desk and toy storage bench. They were too adorable to pass up and we offered $20 less than asking price. Now Leland has a little desk to "work" at while I am working on the computer. She thinks its so fun. Thanks Nana.

We had a great time and miss her so much. We hope to see you again very soon.

Saturday Scenic Drive

A few weeks ago I went to a book fair with a friend. While there, I found a book called - "Country Roads: Driving Tours of Rockbridge County." It has 18 self-guided driving tours around Lexington. Last Saturday, we decided to take a drive using the book. It was more fun than I imagined. It was nice to enjoy the area we lived and find some small treasures along the way.

As we were driving we found a swinging foot bridge (noted in the book). It was pretty random and I'm not sure the purpose but we had fun discovering it. Chuck took Leland all the way across and back. I managed to go a short distance with Lucy in my arms but soon lost my nerve (Chuck made it swing more than it really should) and turned back around.
We continued on our drive through Goshen Pass and found a picnic area with easy access to the river. We stayed here for a while enjoying the calm river and letting the girls play. Leland enjoyed throwing rocks in the water and walking on the rocks through the water with Dad (notice how clear the water is in the picture. Their reflection looked like a mirror). Lucy enjoyed 'eating' the rocks.

We had a nice drive and saw many historic churches, an old mill, very old cemeteries and historic homes along the way. Chuck's article for the Law News - The Roaming Roan is about this drive. He will soon post more about it on his blog with more pictures.

Snow Day

Last Thursday (Jan 17) we got a big snow of a few inches. Leland was so excited when she woke up -- she pressed her face to the glass of the back door and asked to play in the snow. After being out for a few minutes she came back wanting her sunglasses because the snowglare was getting in her eyes. What a crazy girl?!

Chuck was great to take her outside and play even though he was still a little sick. His classes were canceled for the day so he got to be with us all day.

After Chuck was getting worn out he tried to convince Leland it was time to go in. She was having too much fun and convinced her Dad to take her to the park. So they walked down the unplowed street to the park. Her slick snow pants helped her fly down the slides.

They also made snow angels and threw snow balls at me when I came out to take pictures.

I enjoyed all the fun from the warm indoors (I was still sick) and prepared some hot chocolate for when they finally came inside. (Mitzi - Aren't you excited to have snow right in your backyard and not have to drive 45 min just so your kids can experience it?)

Finally feeling better

So today I actually feel better. Not 100%, but much better. I guess my week of sleeping in till 9 or 10 and laying on the couch all week finally got to me. I was up at 5:30am this morning, not because of my kids, just me. I felt like I had all this energy. I cleaned the house, prepared dinner for the crock pot, then my girls woke up and I fed them breakfast all before I woke Chuck. He was very surprised and after church asked when my crack was going to wear off.

I really hate being sick. I really don't like to lay on the couch and stay in the house, I get stir crazy. I really hate for my kids to be sick and luckily they haven't been and hopefully will not anytime soon. Chuck will attest that I (like my sisters and mother) are not the most sympathetic when our husbands are sick. I get very frustrated and have been know to tell my husband to "Buck up and go to work or school" because I was tired of seeing him lay around. Chuck in our almost 4 years of marriage has learned to deal with this quite nicely. I have gotten a little better in the Florence Nightengale department.

Anyway, he has been great this week with me being so sick even though he wasn't feeling well either. He has taken great care of the girls and even went grocery shopping for me. Although during the grocery trip he called me about 8 times. The last 2 times I told him to stop calling and buy whatever he wanted. He came home with:
-2 packages of cookie dough
-2 chocolate cakes
-2 boxes CapN Crunch cereal
-4 boxes of granola bars
-chicken wings
-2 frozen pizzas

That wasn't everything. He did manage some fruit, pasta and other healthier things. But in his defense, I think the receipt showed 50 of the 53 things that he bought were on sale. So at least he's a bargain shopper. I was very grateful for him doing the grocery shopping this week and letting me get the rest I needed.

Park #4 - Sea World

On December 31, we went to Sea World - our fourth amusement park during our vacation.

We were debating on whether or not to make the trek back to San Diego for a visit to Sea World. Chuck and I had started feeling sick and wasn't sure if we could handle one more day dragging the kids around. We decided to do it for Leland's sake because she LOVES Sea World so much. Our passes expired at the end of the year so this was our last chance to use them.

Well it was all worth it - As we were driving up she saw the towers and remembered we were at "Shamu's house". She was so excited. We went straight to the Shamu show. Since we were cutting it close to it starting there was few choices left of where to sit. Chuck ended up finding us a spot on the 2nd row right in the center. This was the closest we had ever sat. If you've ever been to Sea World you will know that sitting close has its drawbacks. Sure you get a great view, but you also risk getting soaked by the "Shamu Slam". My Eagle Scout of a husband was prepared of course and had packed our ponchos, so we were ready. And we needed them.

Leland's face during the show made the drive all worth it. When the video started she got very starry eyed and couldn't be made to look away. Then when Shamu came out, she was so excited, that we looked at each other and both said, "I'm glad we came."

We also decided to take advantage of some things we had never done while at Sea World - the dolphin feeding. We never seemed to be there at the right time for this. We thought Leland would enjoy this, but boy were we wrong. She wanted nothing to do with the dolphins up close. She was fine just waving to them from a distance. Chuck was able to feed and pet the dolphins, which was neat.


Leland loves Dora the Explorer so she was is heaven walking around the park with her map trying to decide where to go next. It was so cute.

We had a great day. We also saw the Sea Lion & Otter show, the dolphin show, the penguins, polar bears, and walrus. We were so glad that we were able to do so many fun things during our Christmas vacation and take advantage of our annual passes. We can't wait to go back.

Neglect

I know I have neglected our blog. I have been laying on the couch coughing and blowing my nose instead. Not fun. Hopefully we will all be well soon.