Parenting Skills

So Derek and I have been working with the girls on not pouting when they don't get their way. We've let this bad habit develop when we say no to something Ashley will go sit down on the stairs and do a sad, my life is so hard, pouty face. Ella unfortunately has quickly caught on to this so Derek and I decided we needed to nip it in the bud before it became too deeply rooted. Anyway, the funny thing is now that we've had a few talks with Ashley about the reasons we don't pout and how we need to behave, she has taken it upon herself to teach Ella when she starts to pout. Ashley is putting my and Derek's parenting skills to shame! On Sunday Ella was told she couldn't do something so she went on over to the stairs to do her usual pouting session and Ashley walked over there and started talking to her. This is what we heard from the other room - "Ella, hey, hey, the way you are acting right now it not okay. You are being very difficult and it is not okay to pout when you don't get your way. Do you think people will want to be around you if you are pouting all the time? Next time I want you to say 'Okay Mommy' instead of pouting, okay? Now you need to go over and tell Mommy and Daddy sorry and then I want to see your happy face." Ella hopped right up and ran over to us with a big smile and said, "Sorry!" And then ran off happily to play. Derek and I were shocked! If either one of us would have tried to go over and talk to Ella it would have ended in a time out or more pouting or something like that, but Ashley totally fixed the whole situation. Now Derek and I are trying to keep an eye out for when Ashley parents Ella so we can get some good pointers!

A little fun with my missy moo goo

A few days ago the sun popped out for a few minutes as Ashley was eating some yogurt at the kitchen table. There was actual sunshine on her face (something that has been rare around here lately) so I had to take a few quick shots. I love that goobery silly face!

One more year down

Yeehaw!!! Derek has officially finished one more year of medical school! He started his fourth year yesterday and it feels so good to finally be in our last year of school! Of course he still has a lot more work to do after medical school is over, but it still feels good to be getting closer to that graduation date - go hubby go!

What should I do with my hair?

Okay, I've been considereing cutting my hair. I'm not sure still if I should, but I'm just getting so sick of how long it takes to wash and dry it. I'm not one of those lucky people (like my gorgeous sister) who can just let their hair air dry and have it look good. My hair turns all frizzy and crazy! Anyway, everytime I workout it's a big ordeal to wash all that hair and dry it - I'm just sick of it. I was thinking of cutting my hair pretty short, but I'm afraid I'll go into shock once it's done. I've had long hair most of my life except for a few times that I've cut it to my shoulders. I'm not sure if I should do it or not. Part of me thinks, just do it because hair grows back and it might look good, but another part of me is afraid of the melt down that might occur post cut. Any opinions or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking of getting my hair cut like this picture, what do you think?

Preschool Graduation

Ella enjoying some of the graduation treats!

Ella and I with the graduate!
I thought these graduation snacks were just too cute! I don't think the kids really got it, but I thought it was great!

Ashley getting her diploma.

My sweet little Ash growing up...too fast!

Ashley had her preschool graduation last week. She was pretty excited about the whole thing. The kids all walked in to pomp and circumstance with their little caps on and then each came up front and got a diploma. After the "ceremony" they made these adorable photo albums with all the pictures the moms had taken during the school year - Ashley looks at it every day and tells me over and over again what is going on in each picture. After their craft they had an adorable snack with little diploma cakes and alphabet cookies. We have pictures of Ashley when she was 1 year old with a little cap and gown on when Derek graduated from BYU. She has seen a lot of those pictures so she had a good idea that when you graduate from school and wear a graduation cap, that it's a pretty big deal. It was a good day and Ashley felt very important. Now Ashley is dying for kindergarten to start. She already had her kindergarten orientation and is counting down the days until she gets to ride the school bus and go to her own class. Our little peanut is growing up!!!

Deep Conversations with Ashley

Over the last few weeks Ashley has been very interested in whether or not Heavenly Father brushes his teeth. One afternoon Ashley said, "Mommy, does Heavenly Father brush his teeth too?" I thought about it for a mintue and told her that I wasn't really sure, but that if I had to guess I wouldn't think so because he has a special body that doesn't get sick and I thought that covered cavities as well. She seemed satisfied with my answer and then about a week later I overheard her explaining to Ella, "Heavenly Father might brush his teeth, but probably not because he has that special body, you know, that can't get sick or anything. But we still have to brush our teeth." We have such deep conversations in our home!

Grapenuts

You'll never guess which cereal Ashley and Ella are loving these days...GRAPENUTS!!! What kid loves grapenuts?! I mean, I like them but I'm an adult and it seems to fit - but a 4 1/2 and a 1 1/2 year old? I can't complain because that's about as healthy as it gets when it comes to breakfast cereal. I guess they're just making up for the lack of nutrition in their diet during the rest of the day! Oh yeah, and they decided they like to snack on shredded wheat (the whole wheat kind) during the day and Ashley recently didn't eat any of the cupcakes we made because they were "bad for her body" - we threw away the whole batch! Where is this coming from? Derek and I haven't really been talking about anything health related lately - I'm sure this stint will end quickly so I need to enjoy it while it lasts!!!