Preschool

Willa started preschool last week. I'm doing a co-op again, there are six little girls total in the group. Originally, I got invited to join a co-op of all boys. I was totally in and thought it would be fun for Willa to have some little boy friends. I also liked the fact that all the boys had Fall birthdays like Willa, so they would enter Kindergarten the same year and they were the older side of three years old starting out. Then, one of the moms dropped out of that group to run her own private preschool and a bunch of other moms dropped out to enroll their boys in the preschool - including my friend who originally invited me to join. I was starting to get a little nervous that this whole thing would fall apart. I was worried that when that happened all the regular preschool slots would be filled and we would be high and dry when school started.

Then, another mom called and invited me to join the princess preschool (my name for it - six girls after all). It just felt good right away. The Holy Spirit? My one concern is that this group of girls were all the younger side of three - most of them with summer birthdays - but they are still set to enter kindergarten the same year. At the same time, the moms were a lot more organized and my friend who invited me is a former teacher and has a Masters in blah blah Childhood Education Curriculum something. I also realized that if I were to enroll Willa in a regular preschool (not a co-op) she would be placed with kids all entering Kindergarten in two years - no matter when they turned three. So, I joined and we started! I should add, that after I decided to join the new group, I found out from my first friend that the old group was thinking of kicking me out when my friend dropped out (I didn't know any of the other moms besides my one friend). Rude :)! As soon as I heard that, I was even more glad and grateful that I went with that feeling to join the second group. They didn't actually kick me out, but they sent me a late text after they had all met together asking if I was still interested. So, they aren't that bad, but I'm sooo happy to be where I am.

Okay, so Willa was kind of scared about preschool this summer and would whine and cry when I mentioned it. So, I stopped mentioning it until the night before. Then, I calmly told her and walked her through all the steps. She didn't get upset, so I wonder if the other stuff was all dramatics. In the morning, she was excited to get ready and she was sitting at the table with her backpack on ready to go thirty minutes early. Seeing her like that, I realized that she really needs this. She was looking forward to it and she just needs to get out and have something like this for her. We meet Tuesday/Thursday for two hours and we each take a week. So every six weeks, I will host at my house. We have a set circle time schedule and a pretty set schedule to divide up the two hours. We also made assignments for each week and day: letter, number, color, shape, etc. Hopefully the kids will have enough consistency and changing homes won't throw them too much. I was super impressed by the first week. My friend the ex-teacher is teaching this week, so I'm going to record one of the days just to help me in planning. I feel a little out of it since Willa is my oldest and I haven't really had the preschool experience before (the month in Texas before we moved doesn't count). I'm really glad this co-op is working out. Part of me really would love the freedom to just drop her off and not have to worry about teaching, but the other part of me would really love to save that money or to use it for an extra activity (right now, swim lessons). Next year, we'll do something more official, but for now this is good.

In the morning, they took a photo of each girl holding this sign "First Day of Preschool 2014", but Willa wouldn't pose! She finally did at the end when I was there.

What's for dinner?

Can anyone guess what this is a photo of? How about a perfectly cleaned up kitchen in the evening and an untouched plate of toddler food.

Unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence! It happened last night as well, if you can believe that. Willa has even been known to yell, "I don't like dinner!" before she even knows what we are having. I used to give her the option of a scrambled egg if we were having something really kid unfriendly. Now, she is old enough that we decided to set the plate and that is it. She doesn't have to eat it but she doesn't get anything else. We leave the plate out because sometimes after her bath when she gets hungrier she will come down and eat. The last two nights she's gone to bed without, though. She eats a big breakfast the next morning but otherwise she hasn't made a big fuss.

June is actually worse. I don't know the last time I was able to get a green vegetable inside her. She strategically avoids them, except to throw them off her plate. She will love one food one day and totally refuse it the next. Most of dinner time is spent listening to her cry because she is hungry but is refusing to eat what the rest of us are eating. Last night after several tantrums she cuddled and whimpered in my lap while licking and the spitting out her dinner. Almost every night after it all, I fill her up on yogurt and Cheerios. I don't know what else to do. She can't exactly be reasoned with yet and I am definitely not ready to send her to bed hungry because that will just mean an early or midnight wake-up for me to feed her.

Dinners have not been that pleasant lately between the two of them. Two nights ago was magical, somehow Willa forgot to complain and actually ate everything and asked for more. It was amazing. I just have to hold onto that beautiful memory now as Ryan and I try to eat amid the screaming.

On another note, June is expanding her vocabulary by leaps and bounds and sounds so adorable as she tries new words. The other day Willa was at preschool so I took June grocery shopping. She started toddling around saying "'nack 'nack" for snack. It was just so cute and I knew she was hungry so I got her a chocolate donut from the bakery to eat as she rode in the cart. I probably could have picked something healthier, but she probably would have refused it. This way I got to hear her cute voice say "num num num" with each bite. Soooo cute.

Cabin 2014

I couldn't miss the cabin this year. We were planning to go after Institute in July, but we had a strict deadline to get back for Willa's eye appointment, and I was worried about so much driving over a short time period, so I put it off until the end of August. It was just my parents, the girls, and me. Definitely the smallest group I've been with in a long time, but more relaxing because of it. It reminded me of going when I was younger and it was just my immediate family there. We would stay in our swimsuits all day and play at the dock and take numerous naps. Somehow, it's never been that relaxing again since I've had children!

The girls loved it and June especially couldn't get enough of anything. It must have been a sensory overload being in the woods and on the lake since all she has known in a Las Vegas backyard (similar to a giant litter box since it is just a patio and rocks surrounded by cinder block walls). She wanted her shoes on from the early morning and was very demanding about going outside.

Our first night, the mama moose and her twin babies came to rest on the grass. It was amazing! It was actually much later than the photo suggests, so the girls were already in bed. My mom kept a jar of peanuts handy for the girls to lay out on the veranda to attract squirrels, so they still got to see plenty of wildlife and the loved replacing the missing peanuts. June squealed like a banshee with excitement every time she saw an animal. 

Picking wildflowers and swinging.

June wanted to ride this little carved bear and she liked to pet it and roar. I couldn't get the red eye out, but I wanted you to appreciate her long and luscious locks.

We went to Big Springs to feed the fish and then walked through Johnny Sacks cabin. It's an old cabin that was built by hand and is now owned by the Forest Service and open for tours.

June liked the four wheeler and the wave runner. Willa liked neither. She tried the four wheeler once, but didn't want to go again. I was afraid of machines when I was young too. I didn't like not being in control of the speed if someone else was driving. Willa wouldn't do the wave runner at all and when I would go or take June, she would stand on the dock and yell, "Be safe Mommy! Don't fall in the water! Don't let June fall in the water! Be safe!" She's a bit of a worrier, but I love her.

A lot of this went on. Overall, it was much cooler than we were expecting , though and usual summer activities were too chilly. I went wakeboarding twice and the second time the water was so glassy that I could see the reflection on the clouds and trees in the water. It was extremely pleasant. 

Willa , my dad, and I took the kayaks down the river. Last year I took Willa in a rubber raft. The kayak was definitely a rougher ride for her. She mainly stayed calm when I kept reassuring her that I wouldn't let her fall in. She was happy to tell Ryan how brave she was.

All in all, a successful trip!

Oh my, where has the time gone? My nieces came to visit me. After my first trip to Utah in July, Ashley drove back to Vegas with me to spend a few days and then fly back alone.

We went to the strip, did some shopping, WetnWild'ed ourselves, and more. Actually, it's probably not that fun to visit an aunt who has little kids with naptime and who don't like doing exciting things, but both my nieces were troopers.

Lexi flew out a few weeks later and them helped me drive up to Utah for a second trip at the end of August. I wasn't really planning to do two trips this summer, but we had to fit a cabin visit in for me sometime!

Lexi and Ash were both good houseguests. I am impressed with the amount of time they managed to spend on their phones :). Teenagers.

We took Ashley to see a live mermaid show. It was very ridiculous and makes me love Las Vegas for thinking this stuff up and then executing it.

Lexi and I took in the Liberace exhibit at the Cosmopolitan. It was awesome. Lexi's favorite costume.

Mean thoughts

I wanted to post this on Facebook. In fact, I did post it and then deleted it because I didn't want to be mean or rude or hurt people's feelings.

But I still need an outlet! So the blog gets it. Here it is :

If I see one more ice bucket challenge, I am going to have to invent a new eye roll.

And you can quote me on that.

A few photos from lately

Willa got new glasses. Her prescription has changed and she has a little astigmatism in one eye. After they pointed it out, I realized that her current glasses weren't completely straightening her eye anymore. We shipped the purple glasses back to Houston for new lenses and then got a new second pair here. It is very tricky to fit her because she has such a tiny face. Her purple glasses are size 37 on one measurement and most stores, even online, don't have anything below a 44. I've seen younger kids look great trying on a pair of glasses, but when I put the same pair on her they stick out past her face and just drown her. We finally found a pair that was cute-ish. I would probably choose a different shape if she had fit more styles, but they are still cute.

I've been taking June to nursery and occasionally leaving her if I have to teach a lesson or something and if it's not crowded. She just turned seventeen months so she's not quite ready yet. She fit in quite well and knew just what to do at her first snack time!

Don't you love the coffee filters idea to hold the snacks? On a related note, two weeks ago our family ran the church. Ryan and I both spoke in sacrament meeting and I played the harp for the musical number, Willa was assigned to give the scripture in Primary, and then I had to teach Young Women! It was a busy day, but there weren't too many girls in YW so we combined classes and ended up team teaching that third hour.

I guess that's my other news, I got released from my dreamy calling as Relief Society teacher and called as a Beehive adviser. I'll be honest, it's still a hard pill for me to swallow and I cried the night they called me. When I calmed down, I was able to look at things more objectively. I think I had such a visceral reaction because I have PTSD from my YW time in Houston. Now, I'm just a lowly adviser, no serious responsibility and I am with the Beehives who are, of course, the sweetest and most enthusiastic group to work with. It has been well so far and so completely different than before, so that is good.

Lastly, here is a photo of Ryan working on an EQ lesson and Willa doing stickers. Ryan got a new EQ calling that rhymes with resident. It's a big responsibility on his shoulders. When we heard that the last guy got a new job and was moving away, I turned to him and said, "Well, it's a good thing you didn't do your home teaching last month!" Famous last words.

Here is a little note that Willa wrote. Can you read it? It says "Willa, mom, dad, Jun(e)" so precious!

Run Ryan!

About a month ago, Ryan started running with a running club. He has enjoyed it so much; I've personally thought he should do something like this for a long time because I think the camaraderie of a running club would be fun and good for him. He has so many good memories of cross county and track; it's nice for him to have a team again.

They meet Monday and Thursday evenings and then a long run on Saturday mornings. The evenings aren't ideal, but he usually comes home from work to see the girls for a few minutes and then heads out and I put them to bed. Ryan's not the fastest guy on the team and the coach sometimes uses him as a whip, "Watch out, Ryan's going to catch you!" He's still fast and running with the elite group. 

This past Saturday they ran as a team in a cross country style race. I took the girls to watch and it was a nice time. It was funny because you expect a 5k to last for a while, but first place was in at around 16.30 and Ryan was about a minute slower, so the whole thing was pretty quick. Though, I think the course was a little slow because these runners and Ryan can usually do faster than that.

It was fun to cheer for him and the other yellow singlets. Go Las Vegas Running Project! As a side note, Ryan's a white minority on the team. His other teammates are Luigi, Filipe, Cesar, and a few others. Another side note, after one practice in the 100+ degree heat Ryan mentioned that he must have lost about five pounds of sweat. Cesar looked at him and said,  "Yeah, you could probably lose a few pounds." Ha ha, lots of laughter still coming from that.

His group, they divided into an elite and non-elite team for the race and ran against other Las Vegas running groups. With all their speed, they still didn't take first. But, the race kind of invited all famous track stars of the past, so it was kind of a stacked deck. No slowpokes.