Easter Fun

We had some fun Easter activities around here. Here's a few:

My friend Brittanie had a fun Easter party at her house. The girls loved the egg hunt. Hallie was all about it. Peyton was done after she found her first egg and realized there was candy in it. She plopped right down and ate her candy while all the other kids ran around getting the rest. She was content. Hallie was nice enough to collect her eggs too :).

(Do you like Hallie's "ankle warmers"?)

I made and ate these delicious cookies. YUM!

Dyed some easter eggs. (yes we have jammie days quite often lately and poor Peyton's hair shows it :))

                                              

Best invention ever for kids dying eggs : Eggs in a wisk. It is so less stressful! We were all happy.

I swear our luck this year is crappy because it seems like Aaron is on call (30 hour shift) almost every holiday. He did make it home in time to...

make robin egg lips/play with the girls, eat our ghetto bunny bread,

I'm embarrased to post this because it is by far my worst bunny, and looks so gross, but it makes me laugh and remember that day. Note to self for next year: Don't wait till the night before to go buy dough. Don't settle for HEB and buy the last Rhodes dough mix that is half opened and partially already unthawed. Just go to another store no matter how tired you are and how loud Peyton is screaming. Remember to buy raisins so you don't improvise with jelly  beans that end up melting and looking like bloody eyes. Make sure your cooking oil isn't expired. (can you tell it was an awesome day?) It still tasted good though.

have an egg hunt in the yard, and search for easter baskets that the Easter Bunny had hid in the dryer! 

Then he hit the sack and "we" watched a wonderful session of General Conference and took an Easter Walk (thanks Mom).

March Captured Sayings

Hallie’s Captured Sayings
March 2010

• When talking about loving our family:
   Me: “Did you know some kids don’t have mommies and daddies?”
   Aaron: “Can you imagine your life without a mommy or daddy?”
   Hallie: “Ya. That could be dangerous! Like who would help me cross the street?”

• Hallie and Peyton love to pretend they are dogs. Aaron jokingly said, “ahh! There’s a dog in our house!”    Hallie yells back, “Daddy, CALM DOWN! It’s not a real dog!”

• Hallie was helping me do something and Peyton came up pretending to be a dog. “um…sorry Mommy, but I have a puppy to go take care of.”

• “My favorite colors are purple, blue and golden. Because golden is such a beautiful color.”

• “Do your best.” (Hallie says this to me in a very motherly voice if I ever tell her I’m trying.)

• Started adding the ED sound at the end of her words. It’s funny.
   Me: “I love you Hallie.”
   Hallie: “I love you too. Hey! We just love ED each other.”

She pretends that she is pregnant a lot by putting a baby up her shirt and walking around. Then all of a sudden, WOW! A baby falls out and Hallie says, “I hatch ED!” (I think we’ve been watching too much of the owl)

• “I’m worried” or “I’m worried about you.” (Great. She already has the Benson gene. I swear I don’t say that!)

• Gave her first scripture and prayer at church in Primary. She was so excited and it was so cute. She said the prayer all by herself.

• Talks in a motherly voice a lot. This isn’t new, but has been way more than usual this month. I overhear her saying this to Peyton a lot when they’re playing. “You’re so sweet. Yes you are. You’re so sweet.”

• While packing a lunch to go to the park for playgroup: “Well Mommy, let’s bring a cookie for each of my friends. Because if they see me eating one it will make them sad and they would want one.”

• “Did you know I’m the only Hallie in town? That is so special!”

• “Mommy, what was your dance teacher’s name?” Me: “Colleen” “Oh! Did she look just like a queen?”

Peyton’s Captured Moments
March 2010
(20 months)

• Says, “Hal” all the time. She finally learned to say “Howie” (Hallie) and Hallie said, “No Peyton, you can just call me Hal.”

• Saying new words every day. Her vocabulary has really taken off this month. Some of her favorites, Bugel (bagel), Bebe (baby) , Melmo (Elmo), buckle, whale, show, birdie, peas (please), all her body parts (belly butt is her fav.)…

• When we are out in public every man she sees, she points and yells, “dada”!

• Has “the look” down and gives it proudly when she’s mad. Also has “the stare down” mastered. She could win anyone in a staring contest and when she is not happy about something, she will stare you down until she feels that you know she’s mad.

• LOVES to pretend she’s a dog. Every morning when I go to get her out of bed. She is on her hands and knees with her tongue out panting like a dog. And it continues throughout the day as she comes barking at me until I pet her and say “nice doggy”.

• Started singing. Can’t understand a word she’s saying, but it is so cute.

Shrieking Screaming STINKER

I love my little Peyton. But there is something I do NOT love. Peyton screams. LOUD! I can take a lot of things, but screaming is definitely not one of them. Which is probably why I was blessed with a child that has a huge set of lungs that can make me cringe with her shrieking scream.

At home when she screams, we do time outs. And I am consistent. As soon as she's on time out, she'll sit there and wait. It's actually pretty funny. Then when I go to talk to her, this is usually the face I get when I tell her to look at me.

She closes her eyes, tries not to smile, finally smiles and laughs and thinks she's so funny. I'll give her the little speech, she'll say, "saw" (sorry), kiss me and run off to play. It works for a bit but then as soon as she wants something or Hallie did something to her, the shrieking scream is back, the time out begins and we do it all over again.

The real problem however, is in PUBLIC! She HATES to be in the cart/stroller. And starts screaming bloody murder as soon as I begin to put her in. Now if I pick her up and hold her, she is as happy as can be. But do you really think I'm going to hold her in one hand and push the cart with the other? I don't think so. I've tried a few different things but am really struggling. I REFUSE to give up my shopping all because I have a screaming child! She will learn to love to shop dangit! Hallie is my best shopping buddy ever! Maybe I didn't start Peyton soon enough :). j/k.

And it's not just shopping in public. Libraries, doctor's visits, church, restaurants, etc. It is embarrassing. My patience is running out.

I know she thinks if she screams loud enough or long enough, she will get what she wants. Timeouts are somewhat beginning to work at home but in public what do I do? I've tried ignoring her hoping she would eventually give up and stop. But seriously! People look at me like I'm abusing my child. The other day some worker even came into my isle giving me dirty looks while pretending to straighten things just to make sure I wasn't abusing her or something. I've taken her into the car for time outs numerous times but as soon as we are back in the store it starts all over again. And if I give her the look and say, "don't scream!" She gives me the look right back and screams even louder while hitting me in the face. I've packed fun toys, snacks, etc. But those only last so long.

HELP! I know I need to just have a plan and stick with it and eventually she will learn. But I need a plan. Does anyone have any tips/solutions/encouragement on how to stop this? Much appreciative for any advice! Because I am about to lose my mind.

My Insights for the Day

I found Hallie standing in my closet with my high heels on as she was perusing through my jewelry box. We were running late to go somewhere and I said, "Hey Hallie, you ready? We gotta hurry babe." She calmly grabs the first necklace she sees and clomps her high heeled self into the bathroom. As she is climbing up onto the stool she says, "Just a minute, I need to make sure I look okay." I smile and watch. She takes literally two seconds to stare in the mirror, give herself a big smile and says, "Yep! I'm perfect! I look perfect Mom. Let's go."

I know it was so simple but my little Hallie just got me thinking. (she seems to secretly teach me things all the time.) Why can't I or others think of ourselves as a little 3 year old girl does? Why don't I ever just take a few seconds and say, "Yep! I'm perfect!" when I look in the mirror instead of automatically finding 10 things to pick apart about myself? We train ourselves to do the opposite. Why can't we just learn to love ourselves and be thankful for what we are?

The same day while we were at the store, I came across a beautiful girl who had severely deformed lips. She acted happy, confident and full of life. I walked away from that store full of emotions. I just started thinking, how stupid it sounds to complain or be unhappy with my little insecurities. I am so blessed to have a body, to have my health, be able to live normal everyday. When I look at it in that type of perspective, it sounds so silly to even worry about the fluff stuff. Who really cares. When I think about the people I love. I don't think about what they looked like, what they were wearing, etc.. I always walk away remembering the way they made me feel. And that is what's important.

This lesson must be one that I need to work on because the next day I read THIS POST by my lovely sister. She's awesome! And such a good example to me. So...this is my insight for the day. We need to love ourselves! And just Be HaPpY with who we are.

"The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don't have."

Surprise Surprise

Whenever I get back from a trip to Utah, I dread blogging because I do so many things, take way too many pictures and have way too much fun that I hate to think about being back home and trying to explain my fun in one little post. So I put it off and then it gets so overwhelming. So here it goes.

Such a fun trip! My sweet dear Aunt Dicksy had this great plan to fly me out to Utah and surprise my mom and family for a Sisters Weekend. It was SO FUN! I was so proud of myself for not spilling the beans. It was SuPeR hArD! I guess I am a wonderful liar because they were completely shocked. Don't believe me? Watch this video. (push pause on the sidebar music)

WARNING: Yes, my cousins convinced me to dress up in this bear costume. It was pretty funny. I now know what a mascot feels like and I give them madd props! How the hecko do they see out of those two little holes? I seriously thought my mom was going to have a heart attack. So did Natalie. She thought it was my cousin Brandon (glad to know I'm not the first person people think of when they think "who the heck would dress up in that costume?" No offense Brandon). (and yes, Natalie calls me a butt munch. She likes to much butts! he he. inside joke)

Well it was such a great weekend. Here's a few highlights I enjoyed:

I arrived in UT 2 days before the big surprise so I got to stay with my Aunt Dicksy, Uncle Bob and cousin Steph who had flown in too. It was a blast. Steph and I are too much alike. It's scary.

Having security come to our door to inform us we were being too loud. And then having the two little worry warts worried it could've just been some man acting as security.

Spending time chatting till the wee hours of the morning without a bazillion interupptions

ShOpPiNg, sHoPpInG and more ShOpPiNg without kids

Winning the prize for the best story. I'll have to thank the ol' Buick Regal for that one. He is missed. (thanks Tam for the awesome Twilight scrubs :))

Delicious bundt cake, pizza, ice cream, candy, etc. YUM!

Meeting cute little Savannah. She is adorable!

Yummy Olive Garden Dinner

Bobbi Ann's exclusive party :)
(Bobbi Ann, you look like you're being smashed! This makes me laugh remembering trying to take this)

and Chatting about memories of Grandma and Grandpa.

SUCH A FUN WEEKEND!  But...WE DID MISS CHELSEY!!! Love ya sista.

The Rest of the Fun...

Since Aaron was on SICU rotation  (Surgery Intensive Care Unit) and we weren't seeing much of him, we decided to stay for 2 weeks. Here's some more fun we did.

Watching the Jazz games with Jordan and my sleeping mother

Bajio, Cafe Rio...mmmmm.

My mom took the girls to get twirly skirts and cupcakes. They loved it!

Making smores in the fireplace

Hangin with the fam

Jordan thinks he is so tough. Nice Jord.

Dustin wanted to dispaly his sweet shirt for the pic! Love ya Dust.

Don't look too happy to be taking a pic and getting hugged Dust :). You know you love it.

 Going to see niece Storie and fam on her 10th bday

Visiting with Aaron's mom and Bill. They were SO nice to watch my girls while I went. The girls had a blast and they loved playing with them. Hallie is all about the milkshakes!

Park with SIL Linds and Gayla and Bill

Peyton LOVED Grandpa Bill

Playing with cousins. I just love how we can be gone for months and my girls and Nat's kids act like they see each other everyday. They greet each other with squeals and hugs, run to the toy room and shut the door and begin their play immediately. It's so cute. Maybe someday we can live by each other.

We tagged along to the Bean Museum with Natalie and Avery's preschool (thanks for the pics Nat)

Seeing my friend Andrea. We lived in Iowa together while both our hubbys did the med school thing. It was so great to see her and meet her new little Millie. Hallie LOVES Mykah and was so excited to see them (even if she whined the whole time about her dang bandaid falling off :))

horrible pic, I know. Andrea does not have a multicolored face in real life :). I was too lazy to fix the shadows.

Seeing Sarah and Whitney and meeting little (not really little) Luke. Wish I had a pic.

Going with my friends Lindsey and Beth to St. George (thanks to my fam for watching the girls)

All night card nights require drink runs!!! I LOVE that these girls can and want to play cards just as long as I do. They are the best!

So...do you remember the show Teen Angel? Yes, this is him. Beth pointed him out at Red Robin and I was so excited. Totally had a crush when I was younger. Lucky for me I had my point and shoot camera in my purse (which is what the majority of all the pics in UT are taken from). I made Beth pretend she was taking a pic of me and Linds and zoom as close as she could to snap a pic. Yes, she thought I was retarded, but I didn't care!

So this guy next to us was like, "Hey why don't you let me take it so you can all get in the picture." Notice the total fake smiles of "I'm so glad he didn't know what I was really doing."

Little Maggie Mu joined us too. So cute.

Lunch with Grandma Janice at Brick Oven. So sweet of her to take us out.

Midnight hangouts with my mom eating our guacamoli and chips, watching TV and me wishing I had a snuggie (thanks to Dicksy).

Pirate Island
 (showing off their prizes)

And my favorite...the number of injuries Hallie got while we were there.

1. Running smack into a glass door (bruised nose and forehead)

2.  Smashing/cutting fingers in door.

3. Gashed forehead from a rocking chair.

4. Lip cut while playing (not quite sure how)

5. lip gashed open from tripping and hitting a chair (see pic)

6. lost count of how many falls and trips (she loves to run with her head turned backwards.)

7. Ringworm (gross)

(showing off her fat cut lip)

Hooray! Finally got that out of the way. Now on to the current...another day.