Re cap

I blogged way more this month, but clearly I took more pictures than I could handle because here are the rest of the month in pictures! 

Went bowling with "the legends."

Boots:

Played games, played play dough, dressed up like Mr. I for school, ate sour gum, and was adorably too busy and active and crazy as always. Nothing broken but drove me crazy every day. 

Natalie: 

Field day, dance parties, play dough, date night at epic(not good), field trip to safety town, and ending it off with some crazy fever and racing heart rate... Not sure what's going in there. Working on Sassing me and not being so negative. Still rubbing her blanket shirt seatbelt or anything around her all day long.

Courtney: 

Play dough, just being sweet and silly and getting her own attitude. What she does Most though is talk talk talk... all day long over and over. She's been spending a lot more time in her room for being naughty and has picked up screaming. Don't like that one! She prefers to hang out with me and when she doesn't get her way will throw a fit. She's the baby and I milk it! But again chatty chatty little thing! Never stops ever!

I sometimes find myself getting frustrated and mad at my kids for bugging me or coming down stairs or asking for snacks or whining or whatever... I am learning that usually it means they need some extra attention. It's a nice reminder that I'm spending too much time on my phone or cleaning and not spending enough time with them.... Hence there was play dough, outside play, games, books, and tickles this month. They needed some extra mom time from me. 

Spa sisters

Libby was so sweet to treat me to a day at the spa on Memorial Day. So we bailed on our families and headed over to spa castle. It was so relaxing and fun. It was an experience I had never had before and I'm glad it was Libby who could be adventurous and silly with me. Saunas, pools, reflexology, and a pedicure for hours! 

All great gals

Two very exciting and wonderful things happened this weekend. 

First:

Natalie finally got her stinky cast #3 off. She had 3 different casts for 6 weeks. Dr Sean was awesome and so great with her. She was so brave through it all and didn't even cry when he sawed it off. She wanted to keep the casts and give them to choice individuals. She wanted to give one to Garrett, one to her friend Lindsey and keep one for grandad since he is a bone doctor. Her arm is healed, the growth plate in her elbow, but still a little stiff. The best thing? The day she got it off we went swimming. She couldn't wait to get her arm wet! Oh and itch it to death! 

Second:

Saturday was a day that was special for me. Two of my young women from when I first got called into YW's (5years ago)went to the temple. They are sisters and they are preparing to serve a mission. Briana is going to Alaska and darci is going to brazil. It was such a neat experience for them to go together and for us all to be able to be there with them. 

I love my friends and I love these girls. I am so proud of them and the decision they have made to serve The Lord! 

Lastly:

I have completed all if my classes and tests, I now just have to take my final and find a job and I will be a certified real estate agent! I am excited and really proud of myself for accomplishing this. I never would have guessed this decision and path for a career but I am excited to be doing it. 

I also got released from my church calling as the stake YW secretary on Sunday and got a new calling as the stake YW 2nd counselor. I'm excited to still be in the stake and still get to work with the wonderful ladies I do and  to get to continue getting to get to know and love and teach the wonderful Amazing young women of my stake. They truly are amazing. 

The graduate

Preschool graduation- It's kind of a big deal! Stephen did it this week and I'm so proud of him. He's learned so much And is prepared for kindergarten. He can tie his shoes, knows his alphabet and all the letter sounds, is a great friend, great listener, and participates it everything. His teachers loved him and he loved them! We love ms Debra and ms Rosalyn! 

Service

Courtney has been doing very good with potty training, except for going number two. She has been going in her panties for the last month every day without fail. Yesterday I walked into a room and just knew that she needed to go, if she hadn't gone already. She hadn't so I asked her if she would go on the potty and she immediately said no. I then began to bribe everything in the book that I could for her to go. We could get an ice cream cone, a Slurpie, candy, we could even go and get a new toy at the store. Nothing was working then she started to think for a few minutes by herself. 

"Mom, can I get a toy from the dollar store for baby Alyssa?" I said sure, but I told her that she could get a toy for herself if she wanted too. 

She wanted nothing to do with that. She then asked if while we were at the dollar store if she could walk instead of riding the cart.  Of course I Said yes. She was so excited, and then she continued to go to the bathroom. It took a few minutes But she knew the end result. We immediately left and went to the dollar store or she picked out a toy for her little friend who just turned one. 

We delivered it to her house andshe could   hardly contain herself!! 

Whatever works right? 

Aaa-choo!

Well the pollen in the air must be high because I am going crazy!! I have really bad allergies this spring. It's crazy how in Canada and even when I lived in Utah there was nothing that effected me. Then I moved to Texas and slowly they started after a few years. They have now progressed after 8 years to really terrible miserable allergies. I get stuffed up and can't breathe, but it's still running constantly, I get red itchy watery eyes, I get a cough and sore throat, constant sneezing, and I get a headache.

 Last night I had a migraine that put me out for the count. I was in bed from 3- all night. I couldn't move. 

The worst part is, I told the kids I was sick and be good, don't bother me. I knew they would get into some trouble but I was ok so much pain I didn't care. The first thing I heard was Natalie "mom, boots and Courtney are eating raw hot dogs and they are making a huge mess on the backyard with food. Food is everywhere." I replied that I don't care. She then added "and Courtney pooped her pants and its everywhere." Oh joy! Man, can't a girl just get some rest to get rid of her migraine?! 

I went to see a dr and here is all that is going on with me to try and keep them under control. Is it working? No. But I can't give up cause they would knock me out for good. 

Poison ivy

What's crazy is that Texas seems a lot like Calgary. I think it looks a lot a like, other than the lack of mountains and cleanliness. But I am always surprised at how different the two can be. We went camping this weekend and there were several differences that I noticed:

1. Poison ivy. We don't have this up there and it was everywhere. I think I was a little a lot paranoid about it and kept seeing it seriously everywhere.

2. Snakes. I am pretty sure we didn't have any up there... But even if we did, we didn't have copper heads and rattle snakes to be on the look out for.

3. Raccoons to eat your treats you leave out or to eat your trash. Yes we had bears, and yes bears are scarier, but raccoons scare me too!

4. Bugs bugs bugs. That sums up Texas summer for ya. So you have your regular Rollie pollies, spiders, mosquitoes, flies, but you also have poisonous spiders, and chiggers. We don't have those in Canada, nor do we have red fire ants. Too many biting itchy bugs.

4. Sweaty humid heat. It gets warm up there in July and August, but it was disgustingly hot. 90 doesn't seem bad but it was with he humidity.

So it was great. The kids explored around, Natalie hated the out houses and s'mores, Courtney loved the little tree swing, and boots loved canoeing and fishing with me. Natalie is a scary car or everything. So am I. Brian and I took a walk at 2am to the trash and I was freaked out the whole time. I hate being scared of the dark. A frog jumped up my leg, so I didn't like that either. So it was a blast regardless of the pancakes not working out for breakfast, and getting the worst sleep ever.