Kaydee has been helping Shane build a shed in our back yard.  She's starting preschool this fall, and yesterday she was very concerned about Daddy having to do the work himself:

Kaydee to Mommy: "Who's going to help Daddy with the shed while I'm in school? (Pause)  I KNOW!!! You can find someone to come over and watch Abby while YOU help Daddy......wait.   You'll have to hand nails to Daddy.  Do you think you can do that?  Daddy has to have his nails."

I told her not to worry---hopefully the shed will be done before she starts school, and even if it isn't, Daddy will be at work while she is in school. 

Guess I got out of the nail job.

It's happened once before, but today I caught her in the act.

Abby was wearing a dress.....she sat down, un-did the right velcro strap of her diaper, used her left hand to pull the diaper off her other leg......then threw the diaper over her head behind her.....Ahhh.....freedom.

Today we decided to make our own butter.  So we poured cream into an empty peanut butter jar and started shaking.  An hour later, we had some FABULOUS butter.  We ate it on bread and used it to make Comforting Chicken for supper.  YUMMY!

I can hardly believe July is here already.  I'm feeling a little bummed because, well, it's been a rough week.  My computer crashed (thank GOODNESS Shane was able to save my documents and pictures) and I found out this morning that I need a root canal and 3 crowns.  It makes me wonder if my mouth is really that valuable.  It might possibly be less expensive to get them all pulled and get dentures.  I hate my teeth.  I hate the dentist.  Okay, the dentist and his staff were actually very nice, but having a stranger so close to my face, drilling and poking and scraping....it's just not that much fun. 

The girls are both doing great.  Kaydee and Abby have been playing together--they especially enjoy chasing each other around the house now that Abby can walk.    Abby is getting her two top teeth and learning more words.  She told me to "Git!" down the stairs the other day.....so now she says "Uh-Oh" "DaDa" and "Git!" with an occasional "MaMaMa" and "YA! YA! YA! YA!"----that is baby swearing.....it comes out when she's really ticked off.  And with her temper, it happens quite frequently.

Shane has made great progress on the shed--the roof and most of the walls are up.

Our Family Home Evening this week was the lesson from David A. Bednar about comparing the Church’s temples to our physical bodies as temples.  (Click here to see article in the Friend magazine)

Kaydee colored this picture to help us remember our lesson.  Shane and I thought she did such a great job we'd share it for you to see!

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And speaking of church, this is a very moving video from Glenn Beck, if you're interested:  http://www.ldsmagcom/youtube/080619glenn.html

Today Kaydee told me:

"I love Abby, Mommy.  I'm glad she is in our family.  She's the best baby sister in the whole wide world.  We have to be nice to her and take care of her--you know why?  We have to take really good care of her so she doesn't go to another family."

Awww.  Music to my ears. :)

We're back from our week in Utah!  It was a fun trip.  Abby....well, she was pretty good on the flights until she got WAAAY overtired because she REFUSED to go to sleep on the plane. (Or in the car.....). 

We went camping with PopPop, Greema, Aunt GinGin, Aunt Dottie Jo and Uncle Cody.  That was fun.  Kaydee especially enjoyed playing in the dirt and throwing the Strawberry Shortcake ball Aunt GinGin got her.  Abby tolerated it.  She played on a blanket and walked around the chairs, but it was really hot and she refused to sleep.  (But since that's not much different than normal......)

Overall it was a great trip and we were sorry it was so short.  Kaydee especially misses her PopPop and Greema.  Abby came home with a cold and is M*I*S*E*R*A*B*L*E---I'm hoping she feels better soon and starts sleeping again!!

Now I've got to go unpack, get some groceries, do laundry, catch up on bills, sort the mail, return library books, get Mollie from the kennel, hopefully catch up on some much needed sleep....and a hundred other things!!

Well, I haven't done a "General News" blurb recently, so I guess it's time to update everyone on what our family is up to.  I was recently called as Primary President for the Winder Ward.  I don't know what they were thinking, but I find myself "in charge" of over 100 small people.  Thank goodness I have good counselors to help! Jenn, Jamie and Erin are AWESOME and I am so lucky that they are my friends and have agreed to join me in my primary shinanigans.  They are truly amazing women.

 I have to add that I am sooo thankful that I have so many great friends.  When we lived in Pittsburgh I had one friend--my neighbor Tami.  I love her dearly, and miss her soooo much.  But here I have dozens of wonderful friends---you know who you are---thank you for being you! 

 I've been busy working on Primary stuff, playing with Kaydee, and keeping Abby out of trouble---that in itself is a full.time.job.

Shane is still working on his shed, but it's been soo hot that he hasn't gotten much done this week.  He and Kaydee have been working on their model plane instead.

Kaydee is still a "super soccer girl", she's also been playing a lot of games on Playhouse Disney.com and PBSkids.org (30-45 min/day which is never enough for her).  She's also gotten into coloring and wants me to color with her all the time. She also loves playing with Abby, singing---especially making up her own words to her own songs, going to the library, riding in daddy's truck (which is sooo much cooler than mommy's car), making up stories, calling Abby "Sweetheart", and planning her trips to PopPop's house and to Hilton Head.  She loves her primary class and her teachers.  It amazes me what she learns each Sunday.  She's been telling me "I Love You" in sign language for the past week.  (Last week they talked about ears and people who can't hear talk with their hands).

Abby is walking more and more.  She's getting pretty steady on her feet.  Her favorite activity is "see how much trouble I can get into."  For some reason she is attracted to the kitchen garbage can and wants to take the lid off and empty the trash every chance she gets.  She also tries to push the fireplace grate over on herself, dump the ashes (that Shane needs to take outside), empty all cabinets and drawers, pull the tablecloth off the table, pull books off the bookshelf,  get the remote/phone/other electronic device, and put every itsy bitsy piece of trash/paper/grass in her mouth.  She fed herself with a fork this morning---a couple of times she ended up flinging banana across the room.....Mollie loved that.  She is also finally getting her bottom two teeth.  Oh, and she is LOUD.  Call my house some time and you'll see what I mean.

We set up the wading pool yesterday and the girls have had a great time playing in the water seeing who can out-splash the other.  Abby even walks back and forth from one side to the other. (It's about a 4 foot pool).  They look super cute in their matching swim wear.

That's what's going on here.  We're getting ready to go to PopPop's house in Utah and hopefully go camping while we're there.  We have a FIVE HOUR layover in Minneapolis on the way out...YEE-HAW.

Kaydee told me yesterday that she has decided on a profession. 

"Want to know what I want to be when I grow up?"

"What, Kaydee?"

"A DOCTOR.  And I want to work in a hospal [her pronunciation] and I can take care of you and Daddy."

I had a discussion with some friends at church today about blogs.  So I came home and started reading......and suddenly my blog seemed simple.  Informative.  But simple.  Others have written such beautiful essays....about life, love.....laundry.  How do they make laundry so....poetic?  How do they have time to write these lurid discourses between all of the projects they are writing about?  I simply do not know.  I do not have this kind of time. I barely have time to finish my laundry, let alone write a narrative on how it was done. I take comfort in knowing that I am quite capable of writing amazing essays and stories---I, quite honestly, just do not have time to sit and write them. 

So if you have come to this blog to find long entries detailing my every move....you will be disappointed.   I will pop on to tell you about the important events in our lives (Abby is FINALLY crawling....and into everything....) and occasionally humor you with something more, but otherwise I will be playing Cars with Kaydee, helping Abby learn to walk, coloring pictures,singing songs, keeping Abby out of the cupboards, going for walks, pushing swings, taking things out of Abby's mouth, giving hugs, receiving wet mooshies, kissing boo-boos and doling out band-aids, cooking, cleaning and trying to keep my head above the sea of chores that keep ebbing my way.....completely enjoying it all.  My children will only be small for a short time, and I intend to fully live in every (crazy) moment.

But if you want to read some great essays about laundry, there are links to my friends' sites.....