A day off, a picnic anda date with Brad Paisely

Today Tre' and I bonded....... these days that i do not have to be to work are the days that I soak up because there is nothing else to do except for love on my bug.

The highlight of his day I believe, cause he is still talking about it, was our picnic. We made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with chips and grapes. The grilled ham and cheese was a new one for him but he snarfed it! Good choice I think :)
As we headed outside with our blanket he did not want it on the lawn he wanted it right on the sidewalk outside our apartment door. It worked out great and ended up being a great place to play cars and do a little ring around the rosies.

Our feast

There is a new gelatto shop next to the hair cut shop so, we stopped in for ice cream and coloring. Thanks to the dude who turned the mess above into a clean slate so Tre' could have at it.

I have been waiting for this date for over 2 years. Everytime Paul and I try to go to his show Paul ends up having business and so I just let it go by the wayside. Well, this year I just had to go. I really wanted to see him and so glad that I did thanks to Paul. The night before he left for business he got 2 tickets for me so that I could take my twinner. I was so happy! Thanks love!

If only we could have been close enough to really see him smile........

Thanks twinner for the great night out and the conversation. This was a GREAT GNO!

I know a little scary but I was beyond excited at this moment in time.

CHILDHOOD FOOD....

What is that one food that you make or would like to be able to make that reminds you of your childhood?
Mine is, rice pudding. I have wanted to make this recipe for a very long time and finally on a day off last week took the time to do so and it was PERFECT! Just the memory I was looking for.
This memory brings me to my Dad standing at the stove in his apron mixing all the ingredients, that seemed to be so precise.
Have you ever watched the movie Ratioulle? Rotioulle the mouse always had so much passion when cooking, making every pinch, every cup, every, everything so perfect. This for some reason is the way I always picture my Dad making rice pudding. It always seemed he made it with such a passion and I believe that cause it was always PREFECT!
When it was done, he would scoop us a hot bowl with a little bit of canned milk over the top. (When Dad wasn't looking we would try our hardest to sneak the canned milk cause he was always very stingy with how much he would let us have, the thing is it always added that extra bit of perfectness.)
I was delighted when finishing this recipe to taste it and have it taste just the way I remembered. Thanks Dad for the good memories that homemade rice pudding brings to me.

What Tre' is up too..........

I was on the phone with my sister last night and she was letting me know that she was feeling out of touch with her neices and nephew lately (she lives in the beautiful Hawaii, so she is a little ways away) and wanted to know what they were up too?
It got me thinking that I do post on here fun things that we do and give little blurbs here and there but I never post what exactly Tre' is up to and what he is doing so, here I go: (If for no one else, this one is for you sis)

Tre' is now 2 1/2 and quite the handful. Let's not saY handful let's say he is TOTAL BOY and that will sum him right up.
His is way in to "scoops" trucks and tractors. He LOVES to take them in the dirt and build along with his shovel and rake. I don't know what I am going to do with him when the weather changes and I have tO put his shovel and rake away for winter. What a sad day at our place that will be.
(As I am writing this I am thinking that I need to take pictures of these things tha he does as well. I will work on that and then add those pictures to this post.)
Okay, back to Tre'........
He just got potty trained as you can see in the posts below and that is still going really really well. I am so proud of him. A few times he has asked for his diapers but, as quick as he has asked for them he gives me a sad face and says " but the garbage man came and took them away" Smart boy! :)
Now that he is potty trained all he wants to do is run around naked and show everyone his weeney. Yeah yeah I know....... it is a new and exciting thing for him so we are hoping that he will grow out of that at some point. The other day he was sitting on the floor and was farmilarizing himself with himself if that is an okay way to put things and said "Dad, look at my big weeney" ha ha ha we lost it!!!!! SO funny.
He does pre-school with YaYa 1 day a week and LOVES it, so much that if YaYa missses a week he gets so sad and whiney. I don't like the whining but I love that he looks forward to learning with her so much. He is very lucky to get to be with YaYa as much as he is. He is learning his numbers and alphabet, loves to sing the alphabet song and even make up his own songs. When he makes up his own songs it throws me off when he asks me to sing them cause obviousally I don't know that words. When this happens he will give me a tune and whatever I make up sounds good to him. Thank goodness :) They do lots of arts and crafts which makes him happy cause that means he get to make a mess.
He got a 3 wheeler Batman bike for Christmas last year and is finally tall enough to reach the pedals. He is riding that thing all over the place. As he rides he coaches himself thorugh it saying "pedal,pedal, pedal" it is very cute!
Wow, he is doing a lot of things these days. I am sure there is more and as I think of it I will be sure to let you know. Love you SIS.

Mascot Bowl....... Who's your favorite mascot?

BUMBLE IS OURS......

The conversation here goes: "Ref, you gotta check these kids gift certificates, there is no way they are in junior high." (Bumble was a little upset that they were running all over him) ha ha

Thank you everyone for coming out to support Paul and the cause. This place was packed and I think that Christmas shopping for a few families is going to put BIG smiles on a few faces.

Thank you Brent for coming and taking these great pictures. I will be sure to add these to the Bumble scrapbook.

Family picture

POttY TrAinINg Day 3

There is not much to say for today other than Tre' is a ROCK STAR!!!!!
We took a drive up to Park City today to hang out and NO ACCIDENTS! NOT ONE! He told us every time that he needed to go. SIMPLY AMAZING.
I have to give a shout out to Paul. What a stud he has been through this whole process. Very supportive and a huge help! I love you and am glad that we make a great team. I am sure we will have a few mishaps along the way but, I know we will be there with each other no matter the time of night or how ever big the mess. :)
This was a great experience. I am really bummed to be headed back to work tomorrow after a long weekend with Tre'. We really bonded over this whole experience and I wish that at this moment, time would stop and I could be with him always.
So, the diary of Tre''s potty training has come to an end. Thanks to all who followed. The picture below sums up just the way we feel after this great accomplishment............

EXHAUSTED!

POttY TrAinINg Day 2

I could not be happier with the way this whole potty training experience is coming right along. Tre' is a ROCK STAR no doubt! I think he was ready to be "big" like his other cousins who have been so patient with all the watching Tre' has been doing while they show how "big" they are going potty.
This morning he woke up dry, and a few minutes let us know that it was time to go potty.(Loving that and hoping for the same results for tomorrow morning as well.)
We had one accident this morning while Paul was at church and that was because we were playing outside. I had not gone over still needing to be aware when it's time to go potty even when we are playing. Once we went over that, he was money. No more accidents for the rest of the day!
I am very persistent with my "Remember to tell mommy when you need to go potty" and I think that has made the biggest difference. It's is becoming ingrained in my sweet boys head.
We went to family dinner tonight. I was a bit nervous for a few reasons, one, he had not been in anything but underwear and a t-shirt for the past 2 days. I was feeling afraid that I was not going to know if he had an accident because of the extra layer but once I reminded myself that i would see a wet spot, perhaps disgust on Tre''s face or, if it was enough, the same puddle that would have showed up even with just the underwear on, I was ready. I am glad that I walked myself through the little things that were not going to be a big deal because he wanted nothing more than to get away from me and the house.
Second was, the fear of him getting to caught up in playing. That was nothing. I still followed him everywhere and reminded him to tell me when he need to go.
AHHHHH, I know there are going to be some kind of struggles and accidents in the future but I could not have asked for him to be more successful. He really is a BOG BOY and I am so proud of him.
Tomorrow is our last day of official training so I''' be back tomorrow. :)




Thanks Auntie Sara for being so excited to hear Tre''s news when he called this morning. Also, thank you to all of our family who is being so supportive through all of this. We love the praise and love that you show him. it means A LOT to Paul and I as well as Tre'. This is sicha big step in Tre''s life and I am happy that I get to be the teacher and have so much help and love from all of you.

POttY TrAinINg Day 1

You read it right. The time has come for us to embark on a new yet very exhausting adventure with Tre'.......POTTY TRAINING!
I have decided that through this adventure I want to blog about it for future and to take pictures for the memories and stories that go with them. So for the next 3 days I will be giving an end of the day report. Please feel free to join us or by pass. But here it is................
A few months ago some good friends of our introduced us to The Queen of Potty Training. (If you interested in this please let me know I will forward you the PDF) This woman has decided that as an on looker she did not understand why potty training was taking so many mothers so long. So after a lot more on looking and the decision she made of what she was NOT going to do she started the experiment on her own and after 3 days, WAH LA, potty training for her kids was done. Friends and family started wondering how she was doing this so quickly so over the years and as a surprise from her husband, she wrote the book and he got it published. As far as I understand it has worked for millions and here is my hope that it works for us.

This morning we got up had breakfast, drank our juice and headed straight for the diapers. Loaded all the remaining diapers into a garbage sac and out the door Tre' and I went. Tre' helped me carry the sac to the garbage and in they went. (mind you I read this book a few times in advance and he was prepared for this, this was not a all a sudden thing)
After we came back in the house we took off his last diaper and on went the "big boy" underwear. He thought this was great! Even though he was a little leary, he went along with it.
After an hour and 30 minutes we successfully had our first poop in the big boy potty and within the next hour 3 other little terds followed. :) Oh yeah, I am feeling good but not trying to get to out of control with excitement cause I don't want to jinx anything.
The pee portion of this is a work in progress. We had 2 pee accidents today but, it's all good. Tomorrow is another day and I am in this tell we get it together.
He loves the toys that he has received for the poop in the potty and the candy that he has received for get squirts if pee in the potty. hey, every bit counts :)
The highlight of the day for him so far was calling YaYa to tell about his proud pooping moment. The picture is below.
Bedtime on the other hand was a little rough. He did ask for his diapers back, I reminded him that we did not have anymore, that they were in the garbage. He remember that and sobered up pretty quick. We did go back and forth for about 15 minutes from bed to the potty. I think he was testing me. But sure enough he is asleep in his bed with his big boy underwear on. Who knows what is in store for the night but I have clean sheets and big boy underwear just in case.

Tre''s new big boy underwear along with toys, treats and a Lightning McQueen potty seat.... $94

The first of big boy underwear on for longer than expected......... AWESOME!

The reward for his first poop in the big boy potty.............

The look on his face when he told YaYa he went poop in the big boy potty....... Priceless!

Congratulations Whitney and Preston

What a beautiful day, bride, okay couple, and special experience it was to be with these two in the temple. The spirit there was so incredible, there was no way my tears were even thinking about slowing down. I love that feeling. Not all the time but just when the time is right. :)
There was a lot of love going on in the sealing room.
The love that Preston has for Whitney is amazing, you can see it just in the way that he looks at her. So sweet!
I wish you two the best in your new adventures together. It is a great journey.
We love you guys!!!

While the boss is away, we will play.........

Right before Paul left for San Fran there was word on the street that a couple in our ward has the ever abundant apricot tree so, we ventured their way and helped shake us a few 50 pounds and made some freezer jam. This was quite the adventure but I am truly grateful for punk and twinners help in getting a delicious turn out. And thanks to Tre' the apricots got the perfect amount of smooshing.