New Love

Here is the girls' new love, DJ Lance Rock from a new show that they LOVE - Yo Gabba Gabba. You'd have to see it to believe it. But DJ Lance Rock apparently rocks! Maybe it's the orange jumpsuit and furry orange wig!

Whiskers, our new kitty

Well, as you can see by these pictures, my camera needs to be fixed, I did something to it taking pictures of our turtle friend, so no more pictures till I figure out where to get it fixed. In the meantime, I had to take these pictures of Isabella after spending some time coloring because she looked like a little kitty.

"Even if all, not I"

A person who shall remain nameless let me know that this blog didn't make any sense, so I'll try to clarify...
The article I made the link to is about a family who had the Latin words "Et si omnes ego non" above an archway in their house. The words translate to "even if all, not I". The article explains the meaning behind the words, but it is easily understood as "Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean I will". I love the saying as a family motto and would like to paint it in our house. I would like the girls to grow up knowing that we have high expectations of each other to not give into peer pressure if we don't feel it is the right thing to do.

Oh, and the picture is just the cover of the magazine that the article was in (BYU Magazine).

"Et si omnes ego non"

Barb and I were talking recently about how we both like the look of words painted on walls in homes. I recently came across this article online and found it so inspirational. I would like to paint in somewhere in the house that the girls would see often and come to know as our family motto. I can't think of a better one for young children growing up in the world today.

Our little friend

Mike called me outside the other day to see a little friend living in our bushes. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I know we have a racoon out there, cute, but I don't want to see it up close. And then I thought, what wouldn't run away while he was getting me? Creepy...

Anyway, it turned out to be this little cutie...

This is how Mike found him in the first place, he thought it was the racoon making all these marks on the sidewalk, but found our little friend when he looked in the bushes near it...
Mike ended up taking him to the creek behind our house where he'd be safer. It was so cool when he closed himself up, you could hear the air being sucked out of his shell and he was completely boxed up.

Sugar

I was getting caught up on all my parenting magazines last night and saw something that might be interesting to other mommies, or really to anyone watching what they eat. I may be the only one who didn't already know this, but:

Did you know that four grams of sugar is equal to about one teaspoon of sugar?!?!? I'm a very visual person, so that prompted me to look at some of things I feed the girls on a regular basis.

I had recently tried changing the girls' oatmeal from apple cinamon to plain and Isabella looked at me like I put liver in her mouth. So I checked out the label and there is 12 grams in Earth's Best organic for kids. No wonder they love their oatmeal! Even the Yo Baby Yogurt has 12 grams. Actually the one I thought would be the worst (Sesame Street Apple Cinnamon Organic On-the-go O's Cereal) only has 4 grams. I would never pour 7 teaspoons of sugar on their breakfast, but they're getting that.

At least now I have an idea of the sugar in products by reading the labels.

In Grandma's Pool...

More fun at Grandma's... The girls love being in Grandma's yard. It is actually double-fenced in so they get to run around a lot.

Isabella likes to use a lot of her "pool time" for outdoor exploring. She's very curious about everything.

At this point Gianna was freezing, actually shivering, but was devestated when we made her get out.

Water Babies

These pictures are actually about a month old.
First time in pool...

The girls love going in the water. Especially Gianna, she is truly a water baby. She gets on her tummy and kicks her legs and moves her arms.

Snowshoeing

It looks like Isabella is snowshoeing, but she's just wearing Mommy's ratty old slippers. (I can't get rid of these slippers because they were "customized" by Sophie.)

'

LB this morning

My beautiful LB isn't doing very well. She's no longer eating on her own. I put a liquid feline drink in a syringe and give it to her like medicine. Other than being very thin (she's under 7 lbs. - she once peaked around 18 lbs.) and a little weak, she is actually acting pretty normal. She still purrs and cuddles with me.

beginning of yawn...

in full yawn...

Middle Park Lagoon

For those of you who haven't seen it in a while, didn't we take for granted how beautiful the park is where we grew up? This is a house away from my parent's house, and we spent a LOT of time around here, if nothing else, to pass through on our way to the pool.

The pool is up the hill to the right of this picture...
The crick... (yes, I know it's "creek"!)

Mom takes care of the flower bed here at the entrance to the park...