Shay at Sandcreek

Shay thought the golf course was pretty neat, but we only stayed for a few
minutes because it was too hard to corral her and Kysa. Raleigh and Ty
stayed and Raleigh hit a bucket of range balls.

Spring is Finally Here!

It's finally been nice enough to play outside without a jacket. Paul Ricks
was out discing the field today and asked if the girls wanted a ride. Kysa
took him up on the offer and did a few rounds. Shay had a great time
walking around the yard. She said "tractor" a few times. Raleigh went to
the Gables retirement home with me today for sacrament meeting. I had to
play the piano. We decided not to bring the girls to our church since Ky
has had a runny nose, and we just end up chasing Shay around the whole time,
but Ty took Ral to sacrament meeting.

Yesterday we went to Austin and Rachel's for a BBQ with Giff and Mari, Tal
and Chad, Jordan, and of course all the kids. Nash and Ella are cute
babies. Raleigh was really sad to leave. Ty was administering the ACT all
day, so it was fun to be able to do that. The kids all slept on the way
home which is always a bonus.

Dueling Carrots

I babysat Bryson and Garrett for about an hour and a half today because Jean had some things to do at the hospital with her students to finish up the semester. Bryson was not a happy camper most of the time and had to be held, and had an awful blow out so I had to put him in the bathtub just before Jean got back. I think Kysa and Shay are too much for poor little Bryson. He finally wanted to play when Shay got out some balls. So next time I'll know to get out the balls. I imagine we won't watch them very often when we move to the other side of town. Since I had to hold him, I actually sat on the couch and watched a few minutes of television, which I haven't done in a long time. I watched a special on the best dunkers of all time. My favorite, Clyde Drexler, was voted #2 of all time.
Shay was a little upset for the first few minutes Bryson was here. She did NOT like me holding him, and Bryson would just scream if I put him down to hold Shay. But Bryson won out and Shay was fine. Right after that picture was taken, Bryson started crying and never really recovered.

I was going to take the kids out to the golf course after school, but I called Ty when we were en route and he was still at Skyline working things out for the ACT, which he is administering tomorrow. So instead we went to Apple and Kysa and Raleigh went swimming. Kysa continues to improve. She held on to a noodle and was able to swim all the way down to the other end of the pool and back without assistance. So she was quite proud of herself. I think that's good practice because it helps her work on her balance and kicking. we borrowed somebody's noodle as I don't bring toys with us. I have enough trouble with the necessities. heck, we usually all share one towel!

Ty ended up taking Raleigh and Shay home, and Kysa and I went grocery shopping at Sam's Club. Of course, she just had to walk and i took my off of her and she took off when I was in the produce section. I couldn't find her and we had to do a Code Adam. We had the whole store looking for her! one of the associates finally found her in the furniture aisle, playing on the couches. Since she was not in the aisle, it was hard to find her. my heart was pounding a bit, but I had a feeling she would be found climbing on or in something. It was really interesting though--she was embarrassed because she did something I've never seen her do. I was talking to two of the employees who had been looking for her, and she just kept sucking on her index fingers, one of the other had to be in her mouth and if I pulled one out, she'd put the other in. i guess it was her way of coping. i think it scared her when she realized that she was in trouble for running off. I was pretty embarrassed. It seems like I always get the cart without the buckle for the kids. You'd think I'd check right away, but it's usually once I've already put them into the seat that I notice. The checker did tell me they were getting new carts, and they are getting a new prototype for kids that Sam's is going to be testing out. I love how the CostCo carts have two spots for kids to be seatbelted in. Heavens knows I need all the help I can get with the girls.

When we got home I told Kysa to tell ty what she did at Sam's Club, and she said, "I walked." Then she did a little demo of how she ran away from me. She knows.

Speaking of knowing, Shay is understanding a lot of the things that we tell her. For example, if I say, "go get in your crib", she will run over to the porta-crib or the other crib, whichever is closer. If I say, "do you want a banana" when she's in the living room, she will run into the kitchen and reach up toward the bananas. Shay loves to be outside but hasn't got much of a chance yet since it's been so cold. I'm thoroughly looking forward to having a fenced yard! She is quite the climber--she can easily get up on the couches, the chairs, the dining table, and even all the way up into her high chair. I don't think that's a good thing though!

Kysa and Raleigh helped me put away the groceries from Sam's Club. they were also watching me cut carrots for a chicken vegetable soup, and they each grabbed a carrot and started sword-fighting. It was too funny, so I videotaped them...

Kysa and Raleigh also had a blast helping each other wash the dishes. They will definitely need to be re-washed, but it was cute to see how they worked together and got along. Kysa's shirt was completely soaked and she said, "Kysa mess!" But she wasn't worried about it until the job was done.

Dish Network Dancers

Sometimes for "Family Home Evening" (which can be any night of the week) we turn on the Dish Network music stations and let the kids dance. When we hit pause, they have to "freeze." It's pretty hilarious. Shay has started to join in. She was really getting her groove on tonight, bopping her head and spinning around in circles. She is taking after her sister, as Kysa is quite the dancer. She's only two but has way more rhythm than I ever will. Shay is also starting to try to run, as you can see in the video. She loves to climb onto the dining room table and stand up. She's on and off the couches like nothing else. I can't remember if I wrote about her wriggling her way out of her high chair and standing up on the tray when Ty ran out to the car the other day. He came back in and she was standing up on the tray "surfing". He had no idea she could even get out of her seat! Needless to say, we have our hands full.

Here is a short clip of the kids playing in the living room:

Riding the new bike

Raleigh rode his new bike to the tennis courts, with training wheels of course. Ty took him out for the first time on the bike he got for Christmas. It’s been so cold this spring he really hasn’t had a good day to do it.

Kysa showed us a new trick getting into her crib the other day. TWICE she leap-frogged over the side of the crib and then superman-style landed flat on her belly. I think it hurt her knees the second time and she hasn’t tried it since.

Garrett and Bryson came over this afternoon so Jean could get her hair done and Kysa and Shay pushed Bryson down several times. I had to watch them like a hawk. I also flooded the bathroom putting water in for Kysa’s bath. Not good, it’s the third time I’ve done it since we lived here. I caught this one sooner than the other two, but it’s still been a pain.

I also ate some papa murphy’s pizza dough prior to cooking it, and now I think I have food poisoning because I’m cramping every few minutes. I took some hydrocodone to help with the pain, and I’m feeling okay right now…but I can tell it’s not over. This has happened to me two other times with the same symptoms, and both times it was the same cause.

So basically what I’m saying is I’m an idiot, and I don’t learn from my mistakes.

Nap Time

Kysa was exhausted and decided to take her nap on the couch the other day. I usually have to put her down for her naps, but she got her pillow and took matters into her own hands this time--no blanket or anything! She loves stuffed animals, especially her "doggies". The little dalmation is her favorite. Raleigh calls them her "woo woos". He is a big help with the girls. I really couldn't ask for a better big brother for Kysa and Shay.

watch this, Mom!

Raleigh asked me to watch a commercial about donating to St. Jude's children's hospital. He said, "See mom, if you go to that web site you can do that to help Shay."

Shay had a rough night and Ty was up with her a lot. He was nice and slept in the room with her. She had a 101-102 fever. I took her in to the doctor and sure enough, ear infection. So now she's got some antibiotics in her.

She's been grumpy for a couple days, but I thought it was just from teething. The fever started late yesterday afternoon.

Kysa was counting this morning to eleven. It went like this: " one, two, thee, four, fibe, six, seben, eight, nine, ten, eleven.eight!

She says eleven really good. Unlike many of her other words.

I took Kysa swimming with Ral after his swimming lesson. She turned a corner and was swimming to me from the first time she jumped in. She would just swim under the water and then she was able to get her head out of the water enough to take a breath. I would say she can only really comfortably swim about 4-5 feet right now without help, but she was jumping off the side to me when I was ten feet away several times. Every time she jumped in to me, then she’d push away from me and swim back to the side, and I’d give her a nudge if she needed it. She was able to reach up and grab the edge of the pool without a problem. I guess she learned something when she went swimming with Kirby in Pinedale because this is the first time she’s been swimming since.

RE: good idea

I wish you were Kysa's nursery teacher!

Today none of the nursery leaders showed up, so between the parents and the
primary leaders, we winged it.

I finally couldn't take it and took the girls home about 30 minutes early--I
was like, "Why am I torturing myself?"

Kysa does good with most of the kids, but there was a little boy that she
did not get along with. He was territorial when they were eating their
snacks and he kept pushing her away from him at the table. Then later he
wanted the toy that she was playing with. She pushed him down once when he
tried to get it from her. He is older but Kysa is bigger and I didn't want
her to hurt him, so we left soon after that. She can go from being a sweet,
helpful angel to kicking someone's trash in no time. (Ask Shay!)

Speaking of Shay, she likes to climb up into the dining room chairs when
they are pushed in next to the table. Naturally she gets herself stuck, and
then she cries. She did it several times tonight...you would think she
would figure it out, but nope--we have to save her. I think as much as Kysa
was a climber, Shay is beating her in the "climbingest kid" category.

-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry and Roanne Gillette [mailto:jerrygillette@safelink.net]
Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 3:48 PM
To: Kaly
Subject: good idea

Today our Nursery lesson was about
H2O, so I did the fish crackers, plus
we got out the pole and did some fishing
in Kelsy's fish tank. Always a bonus.
They love it.
The fish stix sound good. Thanx for the tip.

So on Thurs. I will head to your house, from
Gram's. Dad will come with your Cad.
We will go to Rexburg, together, and Ty will
come later. You will get a sitter? Raleigh may
want to go? Afterwards, we just may go back
to MOM's. We'll see.
Love, MOM

Family Trip to Pinedale

Mom and I braved the three hour drive to visit Kirby and Andrew in Pinedale last week. They didn't sleep nearly as much as we had hoped, but it was worth it to see the Aquatic Center and Kirby and Andrew's new house.










The Aquatic Center is pretty amazing, especially considering its location. The kids all loved it, and as we expected, Kysa had a blast on the slide. Andrew even helped me try the climbing wall. It was exhausting--what a great workout. I didn't make it all the way to the top on the first two tries, but he had me switch to an easier part and I was able to make it...barely! Andrew is really good at it.

bloody nose

Ty is on Spring Break this week so I am working until he heads for his annual Anaconda basketball tourney with Raleigh this weekend.

 

He said the girls were battling it out this morning…Shay was sitting in one of the little white chairs and Kysa wanted to sit there.  So Kysa just sat right on Shay.  Shay defended herself and shoved Kysa off.  Kysa hit the tv stand and got a bloody nose.  Go Shay.

 

I’m sure it’s just the beginning of many battles to come.  But they also like to play with each other and make each other laugh—it’s kind of a love-hate relationship at this point.

 

Lately Kysa likes to say “My Shay Shay”  “Shay Mine”, stuff like that.  She tells me to go get Shay out of the crib when Shay wakes up.  Kysa just has an aggressive streak.  Apparently, so does Shay. 

Kysa is my X-Games Girl

Oh mom, that will be WONDERFUL to have you come next week!

I talked to dad before he left and he said he would come up next week...so I
don't know if the two of you have talked, but whenever you can come, we will
be grateful. We are set to close on our house tomorrow. Landon Kesler was
our mortgage guy and he just does an awesome job making sure we have
everything lined up.

Ty has three more golf tourneys in Twin, so maybe he will take Raleigh on
the bus with him so he could spend the day with you. Raleigh really wanted
to go today but it was going to be too crowded. They brought all the kids
who were trying out for the team and had them play at Burley, while the ones
from last year played in a tournament at Twin. No golf in our neck of the
woods, heck, in the subdivision where we are buying that house there is
still 8 inches of snow. Most of ours has melted in Ammon, it's weird that
it's been that much warmer over here. Of course, we still have piles of it
where it has been shoveled, snowplowed, etc, but on the flat it is gone.

Shay took awhile to go to sleep tonight and entertained herself by taking
her shirt off. She looks so peaceful in there, I didn't dare wake her up to
put her shirt back on. We almost have to do the zip up jammies for her,
seems like she is taking her shirt or pants off every time she's not in a
one-piece.

She is getting so big. I just love my big babies, I wonder what it would be
like if I didn't have such sturdy kids. I don't think I told you this, but
Shay opened the door from grandma's kitchen to the front porch by herself.
She can reach the door handles at our house, but hasn't figured out how to
open them up quite yet. It won't be long. She opened the lever door at
Apple Athletic Club's treehouse today and walked right out. Yikes! I'm
excited to see how she does on the trampoline and find out if we have
another Kysa on our hands.

Speaking of Kysa, she got her coat and hat and shoes on and wanted to go
outside, so Raleigh was nice enough to go out with her. They had a great
time jumping on the tramp and I would periodically check on them, but I
stayed inside with Shay. Well finally they came in and Raleigh said, "kysa
really likes to jump off the tramp." Huh?

"Like into the snow bank, right?" I ask.

"No." Raleigh explains. "Onto the grass."

"How many times did she do it?"

"A lot. Like five, no...seven...no....ELEVEN!" Raleigh informs me.

Okay, so who knows how many times my 25 month old jumped off the trampoline,
but tomorrow when they go outside I am going to watch very closely.

If there ever was a girl destined for something like the X-Games, it is my
Kysa.

I attached some pictures of the girls--Kysa doing her superwoman on my feet,
Shay being cute in her high chair--she loves to try to feed herself with a
spoon, Kysa showing us her mad face, and Raleigh playing Kelsy's GameCube
with Ty.

I tried playing Raleigh last night in one of the racing games on the Game
Cube, and he beat me so bad it was embarrassing. And he beat my bad TWICE!
I think I'm hopeless at video games. But he was so cute, he said, "Mom, you
just need to practice. If you want to be good, you have to practice, that's
all. I'm not that good--I just practice. But Daddy's really good."

-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry and Roanne Gillette [mailto:jerrygillette@safelink.net]
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 7:38 PM
To: Kaly
Subject: busy week

I know you are very busy. I will try and be there Sunday night. Well that is
if you have planned on doing lots on Monday. I can come for a few days,
then I will go to Kirby's to see ALL. But I will come back for Easter Sunday. You're not planning on a Egg Hunt? Too much going on for you to do that.
Just for Raleigh, and Ky? That will be good. Dad is with Doug Manning, Perry, Stan. On the ClearH2O. Be back on Sat. I have a Track Meet tomorrow. 4 teams coming. I hope the weather
will be nice. The internet has been down for 5 days. At Armstrongs they are using an electric fence and it interferes with the connection. It's just the pits. PMT is aware and working on it.
Love, MOM

The Joys of Potty Training

Kysa is in the doghouse...

Or should I say the outhouse.

It's okay mom, you just need to take a nap

This is what Raleigh said to me after I apologized for yelling at him yesterday.

(He was trying to help Kysa but was being a little overbearing demanding that she accept his help. I overreacted and yelled at him. His feelings were hurt and he went into the back bedroom. I went to talk to him and told him I shouldn't have yelled at him. He said, "It's okay mom, you just need to take a nap.")

97 Days Until the Teton Dam Marathon

It's been on my list of things to do for a long time: run a marathon.

I can check it off my list on June 14th.

I signed up for the Teton Dam Marathon. Here is the link to the site: http://www.dammarathon.com/

I have 97 more days to train. I am going to run 3 times a week with speed work on Mondays or Tuesdays, a tempo run on Wednesdays or Thursdays, and my long runs on Saturdays. I

will spin, swim, or play basketball on the other days with at least one session of weight training/week.

Doing a cross-training program will help me get ready for the Spudman at the end of July.

Here is my 14 week training plan that will start immediately:

tallan's new baby

Wow, aren’t my cousin Tallan’s kids cute!