It Is DONE!!!!

Yes! We did it! Walked 18 miles while pulling a handcart with a bunch of kids dressed as pioneers!!!! Everyone survived. The girls had a great time with their aunties & babysitters. I'll tell you all about it, but first you have to look at these pictures of Ella at her friend's birthday party. (Her friend has now set the bar oh-so-high for all future birthday parties. They went to the salon school and got styled. It was fabulous.)

Here is Ella getting her hair washed in the big sink.



The lineup (they're all so serious! And blond!):



Hmmm, what would you like done today? Oh, princess curls? What a surprise! (PS - it took Ella's poor stylist about 45 extra minutes to blow dry ALL HER HAIR.)



Pretty Pretty nails:



You can't see it, but she's got lavender makeup, nail polish and pretty lip gloss on.



SO PRETTY!


And then, on the completely opposite side of the spectrum, here's us on our pioneer journey. We were at the back of the 2nd company for two of the three days. The first day was exhausting. We had to be up at 4am to get to the church at 5am to leave the church at 6am to get to the trek site by 9am and didn't end up going to bed till 10pm. (Did you follow that? It involved many cranky people and lots of sitting around and waiting.) We finally started pulling our carts at around 11am, then stopped again after about a mile to be "raided". The sheriff took all the contraband (cell phones with no service, unauthorized snacks, makeup, etc.) We pulled 7 miles the first day (I say "we", but really I mostly just walked behind and "supervised". I was really good at it. The kids were supposed to do most the pulling so they could "learn though sacrifice". Ha ha, suckers!)

So pretty!


We had 8 kids in our "family". Four boys and four girls. They were all superior and awesome. I loved all of them.




Our trail boss/former Bishop/Awesome Boot Wearing Cowboy.


On the second day we had some "Alone Time" after lunch. We all spread out over a beautiful meadow and read pioneer stories and wrote in our Trek Journals. One of my favorite fake daughters here:

Pondering under a tree:

Seriously pondering how awesome he is:


I think this is my favorite picture from the whole experience:


They organized lots of stops for everyone to take a break, move their position around the cart and drink water. Some of the kids were getting "Pioneer Road Rage" (in the words of Matt S.) because they thought there were a little too many stops. They wanted to GO GO GO. They also had these little "vignettes" along the side of the trail. The vignettes were there to remind the kids what the pioneers went through on their journey. Most were so sweet they brought tears to my eyes (the trail-side burial of a mother and baby, when the "angels" came and helped us pull the cart up Rocky Ridge). Others were...not as successful. We tried to keep the spirit of the activity, but sometimes.... it just doesn't work. We were asked to bring someone's baby to Zion, since the baby's family was "struck with fever". Our baby started out as a floppy little doll named "Sarah" filled with wheat kernals. The kids were supposed to treat her like a real baby and take turns carrying her the whole way. It didn't quite work out. (How did we know it was filled with wheat kernels? Because it was accidentally sort of tossed around, and then kind of got run over by the cart. Baby did not make it to Zion. Here you can see the attempt at surgery to repair a serious head wound. Wheat-brains were leaking out everywhere...)


Being at the end of the company, we got a lot of dust. It looks pretty here though, right? Not so pretty when you brush your teeth and blow your nose later. (TMI, I know. But IT WAS NASTY.)


Aren't they cute pioneers? I know!


Our pioneer family.


We were supposed to start each day with scripture study and end with a devotional. But there was so much going at the beginning of every day that it was hard to fit in (Ma & Pa meetings, family prayer, breakfast, break camp, get on the road....) We took advantage of some of the longer break-stops to try to fit some spiritual stuff in.


But other times we just goofed off. Here's a rad picture of Stick Ball in action. Who knew sticks and pine cones could be so fun???


We haven't showered for three days and have walked 16 miles so far. Awwwwww, cute!


It was a spectacular and unique experience. I'm very glad to be home, grateful for hot showers and washing machines, and glad to be with my crabby, whining children again (I think Gretchen is punishing us for our absence.) I would totally do it again.

Next week: 10 hour drive to SoCal, sailing trip to Catalina and a family visit. Dude, we are crazy.

xoxo

With Much Anticipation

This week will begin the CRAZY part of our summer. On Thursday we'll abandon our children for three days while we pretend to be pioneers. I am equal parts excited and ready for this to be over. (I made another skirt and apron this week & it is actually cute. Not cute enough to ever wear again, but cute enough to not feel like a complete idiot while wearing it... And I put pockets in my dress to hide my contraband. Kidding. Kind of.)

Two days after getting back from the trek we'll be driving to California where Poppa Randy and Nanna Joy will be taking us all sailing to Catalina Island! For four days! I am so excited and apprehensive about this. It was all my idea, and I'm sure Dad is wondering what possessed me to ask for this trip, what with my small and occasionally impossible children. Don't even ask me to start a list of the things that could go wrong (Dramamine has been purchased, new life jackets for the girls are forthcoming, how to survive shark attacks has been researched. Kidding. Kind of.) But I LOVE sailing with my Dad. (Really, I love hanging out with Dad. Sailing is just an added bonus.) And I love going on adventures. And this will definitely be an adventure. (Four adults, Ella and The Gretch in a 40 ft. sailboat for four days = Big Adventure. Note to self - stock up on bribery.) The girls are especially excited to use Poppa Randy's real binoculars and feed the fish (from the side of the boat. Not in the classic "Feed You To The Fishes" threat. Though we might resort to that threat if pushed hard enough.)

But till then, we're trying our hardest to just sit around and be lazy. I attempted to take pictures of the girls for a Father's Day gift. This one of Ella turned out kind of cute:



But this is the best one I got of Gretchen (the other ones were of her on the balcony doubled over in Full Tantrum Mode. She stopped her fit when I told her to stick out her tongue. I'm sure if you look close enough, you can see little sparkly tears in her eyes. OH THE DRAMA!)


But this one is my favorite. She definitely needs more weapons to play with, right?


Happy Fathers Day!!!!


xo

Knock Knock!

Hello Dear Friends and Family!!!

As promised, here is a picture of my PIONEER DRESS!!!
Reasons Why I Love This Picture:
-The room is a mess. (I could have picked up before we took the photo, but I wanted y'all to feel better about your houses so I left it au natural. I'm really thoughtful like that.)
-I am clothed wrist to ankle, but Gretchen is practically naked.
-I didn't bother taking off my pajamas for the photo shoot. You can see them peeking out under my skirt.
-For some reason I am wearing my gold flip flops. With pajama pants. And a pioneer dress.



Here it is with the Authentic Scarf and Apron.



Can't you just see me as a Pioneer? I know. I'm totally going to rock at it.



Thanks for taking such awesome pictures Ella!



"You're welcome, Mom!"



Gretchen's Two New Cute Things:

1. When I hand her something (snack, juice, etc.) she says, "Oh tank you, mama!" (The enthusiasm gets me every time. I love this kid.)

2. Gretchen has started telling jokes. She almost gets it. It's heavy on the bathroom humor. Actually, it's pretty much ALL bathroom humor. (PS - Don't mind the boxes in the background. We finally got our storage rack assembled, so pretty soon they'll be gone. You know, in a few more weeks...):





This week our goals include:
-Going swimming every day (we went FIVE TIMES last week. And had a BBQ. Unemployment is suiting us a little too well. But hey, I finished my freelance job yesterday. YAY!!!)
-Having more BBQ.
-Actually doing that Ab workout instead of just thinking about it.
-Catching up on Glee.

(Doesn't it feel good to put your goals in writing. I know I feel better...) So what are YOUR goals this week?

xoxoxo

Gigantic Mountains and Ginormous Milestones

Hello, dear friends and family. We had a fantastic week. I was a productive little lady (I'm 1/2 way done with my freelance project! Yay!). And Ella graduated kindergarten.

On Memorial Day we got a glimpse of what the summer will be like. It was beautiful. We started our celebrations at Target (don't be jealous) and got sunscreen. The girls got their first sunburns the previous Saturday when the apartment pool opened and we went for a quick swim. Quick because we were out of sunscreen. Now they have little tan lines. Who's kids are these? Apparently they don't follow the Robertson tradition of burn/peel/burn/peel/skin cancer... But we're still going to keep them covered in sunscreen for the rest of their natural lives.

We went on a hike to the top of RATTLESNAKE MOUNTAIN. Doesn't that sound brilliant and scary? It's actually more of a foothill, but RATTLESNAKE FOOTHILL doesn't carry the same weight as RATTLESNAKE MOUNTAIN. Climbing the top of this, ahem, mountain was on my list of "Things To Do Before We Move". (Do you like how I'm thinking positively because of COURSE Colby will be getting a job soon and it probably won't be in Northern Nevada. Which makes me sad, because I really love Northern Nevada. But immensely happy because HELLO!!! Jobs = Money = Happiness. Really, money can buy happiness. Don't believe what they tell you.)

Here's how the hike went.
Great! - 5 minutes
Good - 15 minutes
(Almost to the top) HORRIBLE - 10 minutes
(Reached the top)
Handed out snacks and juice boxes.
(Began track down)
HORRIBLE - 15 minutes

Good thing it was a short hike.

Gretchen pretending it was fun to hike:


Look! I made it! Can I have fruit snacks now?



I'm getting all the good pictures from graduation later today. I'll put them in a separate post. Goodbye, best kindergarten teacher ever!!!


In keeping with the tradition of overdoing it and general ridiculousness, I carved a watermelon for the kindergarten graduation BBQ into the shape of a bee (the class mascot). I wasn't going to do anything that crazy, but my friend J dared me to do it. So of course then I had to.


And, since I know you're all waiting with baited breath to find out about my pioneer dress, it is DONE!!! Yes, it is done and it is almost fabulous. It's kind of got a high waist (where my actual waist is instead of at the top of my hips), but it fits and it's almost kind of cute. Almost. It's definitely not doing anything for my figure. People may assume I'm a pregnant pioneer. I'm ok with that. Especially since my "Pioneer Ancestor" that I'm doing family history work on had a baby en route. (Can you even imagine being 9 months pregnant while walking across the plains? Kill me now.)

I got so excited about finishing that sewing project that I went to Savers and bought an awesome old pillowcase and made Ella a dress and Gretchen a matching skirt. I'm going to try to put them in them for church today. And then take a picture. We'll see how that goes...

Wish us luck with our first week of summer. I know Ella was only in school for 2.5 hours a day, but DUDE, that 2.5 hours made all the difference. (Where is Ella right now? Pouting somewhere because I told her I was going to beat her bum if she didn't clean up her dress-ups RIGHT NOW. There is beauty all around, when there's love at home....)

Fun Facts

Fun Fact #1:

We don't cry in kindergarten. Since they've finished their end-of-year testing, Ella's kindergarten class has been winding down. They've been "practicing" having recess every day. It's supposed to help them get ready for the experience they'll have next year when they're in school for 6 hours. And yeah, practice has been going pretty well. I think they have it down.

Sometime last week Ella tripped and fell in the "protective" wood chips. She showed me the cuts in her hand and then told me, "I didn't cry, even though it hurt really bad. We don't cry in kindergarten."

Fun Fact #2:

Ella will now be known as "April the Second". She told me that when she was a baby, she wanted me to name her April. Apparently I got it wrong. I told her we can call her that from now on.

Fun Fact #3:

When you cut out a pattern, you should make sure you really make sure you CUT THE RIGHT SIZE. Yeah. And the size you buy your pants at Target is NOT the size you cut out for a pattern. Remember that "Pioneer Dress" I've been working on? Apparently I cut it out 3 sizes too small. I think we can salvage it though. I've got some help. I'll keep you posted. I have other fabric to make an elastic waist skirt, so I may just be sporting that on our hike. We'll see.

Other Facts:
-The pool opened at our apartment, so you're all invited to come swimming with us.
-Ella has her kindergarten graduation this week (sniff), so next week's news should be full of overly-sentimental musings from an emotional mom.
-I spoke in church today. I HATE SPEAKING IN PUBLIC. But it went ok. Mostly just glad it's over.
-We're looking forward to our trip to CA for 4th of July. YAY!!!!

So what's up with you? Have any fun facts to share?

The Dentist Incident

We had some excitement this week when we babysat Ella's BFF while her mom & husband went on vacation. For four whole days. (Why yes, I AM crazy and take on more than I can handle on a regular basis, why do you ask? See also: Kindergarten yearbook, my volunteer work, the "Pioneer" dress I'm attempting to sew for Trek, plus all my freelance work, etc.) So where was I, oh yes, babysitting. The first day was....not great. We'll call her Starling. Starling is an only child (so far) and is NOT used to sharing with small children. Gretchen is two and is NOT used to sharing either. That was fun. I made both Gretchen AND Starling cry. It wasn't on purpose. But we had a "Come To Jesus" talk. It worked. By the time Thursday rolled around, I was totally handling three kids. (And by "Totally Handling", I mean I was only pulling my hair out every hour instead of every 15 minutes.)

Remember how Ella's teeth were coming in? And how her baby teeth were still firmly in place? And how my phobia of tooth loss prevented me from "twisting" them (as per the Dentist's instructions)? And how every time Colby got near her with "twisting intent" she would scream so loud that the ceiling shook? Yeah, we took her to the Dentist to get them pulled. Bribery didn't work.

This is how it went:

1. Ella threw a HUGE MESSY FIT in the parking lot. I literally had to drag her across the street to the dentist's office. I'm pretty sure the Grown Up Dentists office called the Childrens Dentist office & tipped them off. They had a "Screamer". Oh yes, they did. And Starling kept saying, "Why is she screaming like that, it's hurting my ears." You know, cause OF COURSE I took an extra child on this errand.
2. We finally got Ella in a "Procedure Chair" and sufficiently threatened/bribed/drugged, (kudos to the Dental Hygienist. She totally rocked.) Dental Hygenist Lady was able to wiggle out one of the teeth once Ella was sedated. Starling was mesmerized.

Starling - What's all that red stuff?
Dental Hygienist - Don't worry about it, it's just red stuff. (She totally lied!)
Me - Do you want to sit outside the room, Starling? There's a movie you can watch, you don't have to sit in here.
Starling - No, I want to stay in here with you. That's not just red stuff, it's blood.
Dental Hygienist - Don't worry, sweetie. Why don't you go sit down.
Starling - I don't feel so good.

At this point, Starling is literally as pale as Edward. Her lips have a blue tint. And she faints. SHE FREAKIN' FAINTED!!! Luckily I was right there & caught her. Then I rocked her while she came to and THREW UP. Oh my gosh. This poor child. The Hygienist ran to get the Dentist. I assured them that Starling had no pre-existing conditions (except apparently a HUGE AVERSION TO THE SIGHT OF BLOOD.) She had a juice box. While I dealt with Starling, the dentist snuck in and pulled Ella's extra tooth.

She wasted no time. THEY WERE VERY GLAD TO SEE US GO.

What I learned:
-Never take someone else's kid on a "Medical Errand". Just don't.
-Our insurance does not cover tooth extractions. DUDE! SO EXPENSIVE!!!
-Next time Ella gets a loose tooth, we're holding her down & taking pliers to it. She can use the $ we've saved on Dental bills to pay for her therapy.

Pre-Extraction. Hi baby teeth!!!


With the Happy Gas. (Ella's reaction to Happy Gas = Very Goofy. She was giggling the whole time Starling was having her incident. She didn't even notice. She was busy watching Dora. When her tooth was yanked, she said, "Ow!" and then giggled some more.)


Good thing she's cute.

Oh Yeah, Thanks Mom

Did you do anything special for Mother's Day this year? Colby took the girls to Target yesterday and they picked me out a lovely metal water bottle and a box of chocolates (# of times this morning Gretchen has asked me to "share" = 5,893.) They greeted the sun with joyful exclamations around 6-freakin'-thirty this morning. Colby & I played the If-I-Lay-Very-Still-And-Feign-Sleep-Maybe-The-Other-Person-Will-Wake-Up-And-Take-Care-Of-Them game. (It's super fun. Do you ever play?) I finally got up around 8 to change Gretchen's first Mother's Day Poopy Diaper (thanks sweetie! Lets eat some more yogurt, mkay?) But then I took a bath (blessedly alone, much to Gretchen's chagrin.) And I gave myself a haircut. So today is getting better. Plus, after church we're going to Ella's kindergarten teacher's house for Mother's Day Dinner. (I'm bringing spinach salad with strawberries, candied pecans and poppy-seed dressing. YuuuUUUUm.)

So have I told y'all yet that Colby and I are doing a Pioneer Trek this summer? "What's that?" you may ask. It's when a bunch of youth and youth leaders from church dress up as pioneers and pull a handcart across the desert for 4 days. "Why would you want to do that?" you may wonder. And I'm not really sure. But everyone we talk to who's participated before raves on and on about how wonderful it is. I'm totally getting sucked in by the hype. At first I was all, "What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks? (content edited for family blog.)" But then I realized how awesome it'd be to see Colby away from his laptop for four days straight surrounded by crabby teenagers in historic-dress & realized we couldn't pass this up. I went to a meeting a few months ago and got the "Ma and Pa Handbook". Colby and I are "Parents" and we'll have 10 - 12 kids in our "Family". The handbooks said things like, "No electronics allowed, you get to be your OWN SPIRITUAL IPOD!" (I'm not making this up.) So we're going to work on memorizing some hymns. Maybe I'll get Colby to bring his guitar and learn some songs OTHER than Willie Nelson's "Crazy". I could bring my Hammered Dulcimer (that's totally historic, right?) and play some jigs. It's going to be fun. I seriously am excited by this. Now I just need to find someone to take on the girls for 4 days. Gulp.

Dear Little Family-

Thanks for my super cute water bottle! As per your suggestion, I WILL use it when I go to the gym. (That wasn't a hint on their part, I really do go to the gym. Even if you can't tell.) And the chocolate is so good that I will not be eating it in your presence because I don't want to share. LOVE YA!

Dear Mom-

Thanks for being my Mom. I hope you have a fun day and that Christian doesn't listen to his Rock Music CD. (Sorry I made him that.) Give Baby Teagan lots of kisses from me!

Dear Mother-In-Law-

Thanks for being the best MIL in the whole wide world. We miss you so much. You are great.

Dear Grandma-

Thanks for always keeping fudgesicles in your freezer for me. You're always so thoughtful. We're so lucky!

Dear Grandma JoEllen-

We miss you!

Happy Mothers Day Everybody!