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I quickly looked thru the couple hundred photos I took, and this shot (above) was the first that stood out to me, personality-wise.

Then there were these:

group photo

Maddie is 26 months old

Paci was lost for over a week now, but this little kid found her beloved pacifier again yesterday.
I haven't actually cut this thing up and put it in the garbage. She is fine without it, but loves to still suck on it when she finds it.

Allie says, "that's a lot of months old". It's true. I can't believe this sweet baby is 26 months old. I took her in to her 2-year appointment three weeks ago and she weighed 23 lbs and 7 oz. (7%) and was just over 34 inches tall (60%). So Miss Maddie is going to be average height or might even be tall as she gets older (according to the dr). Funny thing was the dr.'s office kept telling me to wait until three weeks ago to take her in for her 2-yr appointment because her hepatitis shots had to be 6 months apart. I get there and the nurse re-checks her shot record and finds that she didn't even need another hepa shot because she already got them both. The only shot she needed was HIB. Anyway, so we waited for nothing. She also got a h1n1 shot and a regular flu shot while at it.

But now that Miss Maddie is 26 months old, it is time for me to seriously kick up the potty training into gear. I think she is ready, but I just haven't figured out when to do it or let's just say I haven't made it MY priority. tsk. tsk. So let me set a new goal. and maybe this kid will be potty trained before the new big box of diapers is all used up. (note, I said that before.)

Yard - After

She dressed herself on this day, not sure why, but she loves this little sweater.

Allie's new thing is to sit outside at night and just look at the lights. They look so nice lit up at night.

What's AZ without citrus trees? We picked grapefruit, lemon, minneola and valencia orange trees. Those don't grow in Utah.

It is finally done! After a crazy week of rain and drain issues, the crew finally was able to come and finish work on Tuesday and then laid some 2500 sq. ft of sod on Wednesday morning. The grass is supposed to be free of feet til next week, but the kids have been so excited to finally have a yard (us too!) that they went out on Wednesday after the sod had been laid and had a little fun. I planted flowers on Thursday and the curbing crew came back to add a second drain on the south side on Friday. It is nice to finally be rid of the dirt after 1 year and a half, but it was also a great learning experience for the kids to understand the concept of saving so the yard can be fully-paid for before we put it in!

Dirt (on our unlandscaped section) is still a magnet though. Maddie thinks it is a lot more fun to push a toy mower in the dirt instead of grass so she comes to me with muddy shoes and the toy mower caked with dirt. So here are some photos per my family 's request - they won't get to see it in person anytime soon.

Sometimes FHE works like...

... I totally planned it. Monday nights have been busy around here, with Allie's dance lessons falling right at FHE prime time (7 p.m.) and Kevin's favorite show, "24", showing from 8-9 p.m. So we worked out a plan to do our spiritual thoughts on Sundays (a.m. or p.m.) except when we have family dinner with the extended family, then we shoot for a great lesson on Monday, either before Allie goes to dance or after she gets home.

Last night, we had what I thought would be a so-so lesson, but to my surprise, the kids really got into the discussion. Again, we used the "Why?" book and discussed Chapter #5, "Why do I have to follow the Prophet?". They were really into it - it led to discussions about tattoos, earrings (only 1 pair please!), college, missions, etc. It was a full HOUR before we finally closed with a prayer. They didn't even remember our family store (which comes out at the end of FHE).

A little note about our family store - this is just a plastic box filled with treats and toys (ours is needing a refill!) that are reasonably priced at 5 cents - 20 cents each. The better treats and toys are usually priced higher than 5 cents. So at FHE, we give each child (from the time they are able to count to 10) 10 pennies. Then they put 1 penny away for tithing, 4 pennies for a mission/college, and they are left with 5 pennies to spend on anything in the family store. They can then choose if they want to save the 5 pennies for a bigger ticket item the next week. And here is where we find out who are savers and spenders. We have both in our family and it is funny to see the tears come sometimes when they really truly want a toy and have no choice but to save their money for next week. We have had times when they cave in to buying a 5 cent item only to realize next week they should have saved their money. We have those coin banks from Deseret Book for each kid to help in this. And what's cool is, they then take the tithing money out at the end of the year, fill out a tithing slip and take it with them to the Bishop's office at tithing settlement. If we've been good with FHE store nights, they should have around 50 cents to pay.

Back to last night. After FHE I went to bed thinking about how nice it was to gather together (in our bed - which seems to be the gathering place as of late) and talk with our kids until we were sleepy. It just goes to say we never know when these great teaching moments are. But if we keep trying and if we are consistent something will stick. Or if not, at least they know we were consistent. Now the wheels are turning in my head about all the lessons to teach this year. There are so many! And so little time to teach.

I'm all caught up!

I think I caught up all the posts and photos. So scroll all the way down.
Some random thoughts I came across today:

Why do we let the one thing we don't have affect the way we feel about all the things we do have?

If you want to know where your heart is, look where your mind goes when it wanders?

how true.

Backyard - Before

A blank slate. should be fun to see come together.

The south side yard - this will all be left unlandscaped for now, for a future pool (maybe!)

The north side yard.

The workers starting to work this morning. View from the southwest side.

After the rush of the holidays, we finally got to sit down and re-hash the backyard plans. Around the end of last year, we got bids from the low teens to just under $20K (yeah right, who are they kidding? that's without landscaping on the south side even). Kevin and I decided that we wouldn't spend a bunch of money on the backyard even if our lowest bid was priced nicely (or so I thought). So we waited on going forward with the plans. Kevin thought we could get it done cheaper than the low bid, and with the slow economy, we were just a little "if-y" on going forward. But we also knew it had to get done soon. So we set a much lower budget and I told the landscape company we had decided to go with that we were unwilling to spend that much money on a backyard and would reconsider their bid if they could come down on their price. And lo and behold, they did. Amazingly we are still getting pretty much what we want AND saving a few thousand in the process. We are all excited for our big dirt yard to disappear (well, minus the part that we left out for a future pool). I had to take "before" photos, for memories' sake. It may not be all done this week as we have rain EVERY DAY in the forecast. How lucky are we?!

Favorite Book

We love this book called "Why?" . We gave the book to Allie for Christmas and we have enjoyed reading and discussing each chapter. Each chapter is written with the youth in mind, so it is an easy read, the formatting is great and the pictures and metaphors really draw you in.

Every week or as often as we remember (but at least once a week) we read a chapter and discuss it at FHE. We have found that each chapter contains relevant information and our kids are old enough to understand and apply them in their lives. We try to relate each topic/chapter to their current stage, and we are only a few chapters into it, but the kids have a lot of fun with it. I find Allie reading it at random times, and Collin loves to look at all the pictures and weigh in on the discussions. Great book, and with all the learning and teaching we get from it, it can't be beat.

Maddie at preschool

look at her pinky!

Maddie has been coming to preschool for the last two weeks and slowly learning the rules. Her favorite work activities are the knobbed puzzles, using the huller to transfer pom-pom balls from one container to the other, hammering and scribbling on the whiteboard. She is so funny to watch.

Last week two of my girls got out the number rods and proceeded to play a game which they invented - they were putting out all the flags of the world, admiring them and giving them each a "spot" on the number rods (which are stripe and used for counting). I capitalized on their invention and gave them number cards to lay by their number rods once they figured out how many flags they laid out. Maddie watched them do this intently:

The next day, I observed Maddie carrying out the same work. She carefully got the flag container, the number rods and laid out flags for each of the stripes on the number rod. She was copying the girls!

Crazy Hair Day

Allie went to school on Friday looking like this. She did her own hair (as always). She took a plastic snow cone cup and stuck it on her head, gathered hair around the snow cone, and voila, she looked like Daisy Head Mayzie. She came home from school and had even better news: she was the only one that came to school with that hair style. Everyone else's hair was crazy, but hers was extra special and got the attention of the office staff.

Basketball and Tennis

Collin and his friend Kyle at their first basketball game

Basketball for Collin

This season both Allie and Collin are trying out new sports. Collin started basketball two weeks ago and has played 2 games. It is fun to watch him run, dribble, and pass to other kids on the team. It's funny because even though he is close enough to take a shot, he passes the ball to another. He's definitely more cooperative than competitive. He has a game every Saturday for the next six weeks.

Tennis Lessons for Allie

Allie decided to try out tennis. There are a bunch of girls her age in the ward taking tennis lessons, so we signed her up when a spot opened up. She loves it. First she was glad that she gets to wear a tennis skirt instead of just shorts (way cuter I guess) and got to pick out a hot pink tennis racquet. I am so glad she finally found a sport she likes. Because up til now, she didn't want to try anything for fear of being hit by a ball. :)

What I learned in YW

Eight and a half months ago, I was called to Young Women's. YW was the only organization I hadn't served in since I was in YW myself (I had been in RS and Primary for at least the last 10 years!). When I was called, I was nervous and excited at the same time. Nervous because I didn't know what to expect and excited because I knew I could learn what my Allie would be doing when she turns 12. What in the world could I possibly offer?

I went to girls' camp, really one of my very first camping trips away from my family, and enjoyed being with all the girls and leaders even though I was fighting a head cold and was congested the for the 2.5 days and 2 nights I was at camp, the only thing that kept me out of the tent was Angie's (our pres) bag of Sudafed and Benadryl. I hadn't been to real girls' camp, or girls' camp as we know it here in the US (ours was an overnight stay at a beach house (more like a mansion where we got to sleep with the waves lulling us to sleep)). I taught a bunch of lessons and planned a few mutual activities for our Beehives, and learned a whole lot about teenage girls. Pretty fascinating and exciting.

Last week I had a particularly busy week - it seemed like I was stretched in all different directions, and probably close to snapping if I was a rubber band. I had so much on my mind and without a 2nd counselor over me (I have been without one for about 3 months), I was feeling weight on my shoulders as I put on mutual for the beehives. We had lots of fun making hair accessories and it was my last mutual activity with them.

On Saturday (yesterday), I was released from YW, as the YW Presidency was reorganized. It was a complete surprise, especially to our YW President who was unaware of the changes until last week. She was so sad to leave, and so were everyone, to see the past leaders go. As with all other releases, I felt a little sad, but it was also welcome reprieve for me.

Prior to this release, I was dividing my time between preparing for and teaching preschool 4 days a week, 1/4 website work, taking the kids to their various sports and dance practices, preparing lessons for YW, preparing and/or attending mutual, and keeping the usual routine at home - you know, keeping the house clean, grocery shopping, couponing, making dinner, etc - and the night I was feeling "stretched out" to the max, Maddie came down sick with the fever (although that ended up being only an 8 hour virus and was gone in the morning), and on top of that we had a landscaping deal to finalize and close. I almost wished for me to be sick for just 1/2 a day so I can regroup.

That said, I'd like to say Kevin really has been good to me while I had this calling - he would feed the kids dinner (if I had not yet) and I would come to a clean kitchen after dropping the girls home, and the kids would be in bed fast asleep.

The Lord obviously knows me and my family's needs. Because in the process of doing everything, or of trying to do everything, some things have had to give - like coupons, which I haven't clipped since the start of the year, or the photos that are still sitting in my camera, or the not-so-stellar personal scripture study time, feeling like I never have time for anything else but what's on the schedule, scatter-brain and not so patient me, etc.

So on Saturday when I was released, I thought of my 9 beehives and knew I was going to miss being with them every week, but I also felt some weight off my shoulders. Today, though, I shed a few tears when we said our goodbyes. My beehives were in the hallway waiting to get to YWs and as I came closer, one met me and gave me a hug and told me she was going to miss me. The rest started crying so that made me cry, and then I look over at another and see a tear roll down her cheek. So I couldn't help it and started crying too. Oh those girls. I'll miss them. But I know they are in such good hands. I think the new YW Presidencyis a power house! Especially our new Beehive counselor and adviser - they are both my friends, and I know the girls will just love them!

I am grateful for the time in YW. I met some wonderful sisters and learned some great things from each of the leaders I served with. I got to be good friends with my 2nd counselor whom I would have never known we had so much in common if not for having served together for a short 5 months. I learned so much from the girls too. And I got to experience what life would be like for Allie when she turns 12, and what I need to teach her before she is 12. In short, I grew in ways I couldn't have foreseen, and I think I am a better mother and a much better, more rounded person because of it.

And such it is in the Church. Callings come and go. We accept calls when they come, and accept releases when they come. I've always believed the Lord truly knows us - He knows when we need a little stretching or when we need a break. I have learned over the course of callings I have had that He doesn't call me because I am qualified for the calling at hand, or that I am equal to the task, but because I need to learn something. I think that's been the theme of my life. He puts me in situations, be it a calling or be it a station in life for a purpose - it's just up to me to find what that purpose is.

So I will enjoy this time off for a little while. Inasmuch as I loved YW so much, I also missed being in Relief Society - I knew it as soon as I sat there to sing the opening hymn and listen to Sis. Winsor give the lesson. And boy I have missed meeting so many new people too! I am in no hurry to get another calling (is that bad?). :)

New Year's Eve and 2010 Resolutions

Maddie and Aunt Jennifer

A game of Guess Who?

For New Year's Eve, the Harris Family gathered for a New Year's Eve Party at the Merrill's. The Merrill's had just gotten a trampoline for Christmas so the kids were all excited to check it out. Andrea was still in town too, so she came to enjoy the party. We had lots of good food - I brought and grilled some pork kabobs, there was hot wings, dove and other grilled stuff - along with potato skins, chips, dip, and great dessert. We had fun visiting with all the family (yep, I have great in-laws and I love them all!), and the kids played Dumb Laws and our new game Guess Who that the Merrills got us for Christmas.

Kevin and I decided we were going to get home before midnight so we could watch the ball drop from our cozy bed (last year Allie and I stayed up and were on the phone with Kevin who was in UT). So the kids popped their poppers in Kristie's front yard, and it was 11:00 p.m. by the time we actually got in the car to leave. We quickly got dressed in pajamas when we got home and then gathered in our bedroom for our New Year's countdown. The kids were so tired they didn't even want to pop the rest of the poppers that Grandma Lorraine set home with us, and asked if they could just pop them the next day.

On New Year's Day, we came up with 5F's - 5 words for our family's resolutions this year.

This year, we will be:

1. Focused - on what's important, on staying the course for all the other goals that we set, as in the following 4:
   


2. Faithful - need to be better at family scripture study AND personal scripture study.
   


3. Frugal - the kids learned that we had to save up for our backyard this last year, and because we were able to accomplish that goal, they are eager to save more this year. on their list is a new car and a pool. hmm. that might take more than just a year to do. but it just goes to tell you, the kids like to be involved.
   


4. Fun - more family fun nights and date nights for Mom and Dad.
   


5. Fit - this one's a little tricky because none of us really exercise. but for the kids this means signing up for a sports activity every season.
   

I should get paid...

...for writing this about Budgetpulse and CouponSense. Today I finished data entry for our 2009 Income and Expense Report (yeah, it is as official as it sounds) and submitted a copy to our head honcho (or Mr. Kevin). And boy it is categorized to a T. For the last 12 months, I kept track of the ins and outs of 8 different savings and checking accounts, including FSA. So I was pretty excited to get 2009 all closed and ready for review.

Budgetpulse


I am so pleased that I know exactly how much was spent on groceries, eating out, car maintenance, medical and dental expenses, trips, birthdays, holidays, Christmas, kids' classes, and clothing to name a few categories. In BP, each category can also be subcategorized. For example, for clothing, I created separate subcategories for me, Kevin, and the kids -- just so I know how much was spent on my clothing alone, or the kids alone. Utilities is broken down into 5 different subcategories. For example I can tell you our combined average monthly utilities bill (Cable, Internet, Water/Trash, Gas, Electric, & Phone) or how much we paid SRP for the year by looking at a page summary. I really love this online based financial management system. I am loving that at one click I can find out how much it all actually costs vs. a rough estimate in my head. I can pull information on any given month, search any of my transactions for the year (say, I want to see all my transactions tagged "Work Lunches").


Couponing

I was also pleased to find out that the couponing really saved us a whole lot this year too. I kept track of only $900 worth of paper coupons that I clipped AND used (thanks to CouponSense! - I probably faithfully did coupons for 9 months out of the year), but the end savings on groceries was a whole lot more than that.

Our food bill this year was around the same as we spent 7 years ago when we had just Allie, and I was able to stock extra food storage, and cases of home-canned food (chicken, beef, sausage, potatoes, peaches, pears and beans) without spending extra money. I didn't have near that 3 or even 7 years ago. I knew the coupons were making a difference, but I just didn't know how much.

I was pretty amazed with the savings! This whole method of stock-up shopping really works! There truly is wisdom in the prophet telling us to have at least a 3-month supply of food in our homes. Not only is it good to be prepared, but it helps SAVE money as well.

2010 Budget

I think Kev is pretty proud (in a good way) because up til 2008, he was doing the keeping track, but this online program definitely tops our homemade Excel program we had been using for 5 or 6 years. Now we can compare month by month, quarter by quarter, and year by year our income, expenses and savings/losses for ALL of our accounts or FOR EACH account. I love this feature! Because man, the amount you have left in checking at the end of the month doesn't mean you saved that money. I can look on Budgetpulse to see if we actually lived within our means (or not) and by how much, where/what we can cut to save even more money this year. AND last but not least, our budget for next year is DONE!

A couple of photos...

...that I forgot to post a couple of weeks ago (Christmas Sunday). I figured I'd post them here and then move the post to the proper date at a later time. For my blog book's sake.

Little Miss is a crack up. She likes to laugh out loud, HA HA. Just like how it's written. This picture is just how I envision someone named Maddie. Fits her like a glove. She is also showing signs of a VERY good memory. She is almost counting to 10 without help, brought me books that I read her only twice, and she knows certain phrases from HOP on POP and Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb. She came to preschool again today and did much better than yesterday. She sat and worked for a while. And also called me "Rinna" while she was in there. I can still hear her little voice say, "I need paper please Rinna". My preschool kids were so good to her, and everytime she said something, they would tell me she needs paper, or a pencil, or whatever it was she needed. They finally asked me why my baby kept calling me Miss Rinna instead of Mom. Good training will come in handy when she is officially in it next year.

My pretty Allie. Who wrote me this today:

Why I Should be Homeschooled
I should be homeschooled because:
1. ALA is not a good school
2. It is good to be homeschooled
3. Lots of people homeschool

I have been wanting to be homeschooled FOREVER! Literally! I would do pretty much ANYTHING (times 300000000000000000000000000000000000000000) or even die to be homeschooled. I only have 2 friends in school anyways: Jessica and Alexa. Some people like Macey and Lauren are lucky to be homeschooled. Name ANYTHING and I’ll do it! I’m begging you! You know what happened today:
Somebody said that she didn’t have the time to do something… I forgot what, but then my teacher said MAKE TIME FOR IT. That is what you should do it. Here’s some things about homeschooling that we both Will like:

No waking up early if YOU are tired
No carpool
YOU can do it in your PJ’s
I will be nice to you
( if I have the word you capitalized, it means that I’m talking about you)

Can we PLEASE do training in the summer? So I can prove that I WON’T GET BORED AFTER A FEW DAYS!!!???!!!

Love, Allie

----
You have to know Allie to appreciate the letter. I get a similar version at least 3 times a week. If only ALA wasn't SO close, if only ALA wasn't building a new building with smartboards, and if only their curriculum wasn't the same one I'd use if I homeschooled. And no, she doesn't have just two friends in school. Ahh, the mind of a 9 year old. At least she expresses her feelings very well. Isn't she awesome? An awesome writer and persuader like her Dad. She should be a lawyer.

Little Sister

Quick shoot today. Allie did Andrea's hair, and tagged along for our little shoot. Andrea and Allie are 11 years apart, just like Andrea and I.

25 months: Goodbye, Crib; Hello Princess Bed!

Maddie's been camping out on the floor in her sleeping bag for a couple weeks now - alternating between all our bedrooms because she doesn't like sleeping in her crib. She would just scream and then climb out of it on occasion. So after Christmas, Kevin put up the little toddler bed and took apart the crib. I painted her room (I cut in, Anna rolled), and got it semi-move-in-ready on Monday.

Maddie officially slept in her "princess bed" (that's what we call it) on Tuesday night and even napped in it the next day for a couple of hours. Hooray! The catch is...the girl is totally into bedtime stories, so the first night I read her five Seuss books before she went to sleep. For naptime, Allie read her a couple stories, then she was off to dreamland. Last night after 5 books, she wanted to get her Tag Reader out to read some more. But I was so tired I turned out the lights and got her to go to bed before she got a book out.

At 25 months, Maddie is quite the talker too. Earlier today Kevin lets out a burp and she says, "Excuse you Kevin". She told me "You're making sad" when I told her to go to bed for the umpteenth time. My personal favorite: "Take care of me" or "Let's go walk" when she wants me to hold her or get her something FAST. She's been talking in sentences for quite some time now, but now it comes with some BIG Maddie personality and attitude.

Maddie teasing Collin

On Christmas Day she got new undies. She thought they were cool and wanted to wear them so the potty training kinda started even though I hadn't planned on starting it til the busy holidays were over. She was fine for a couple of hours and went to nap. When she woke up I asked if she needed to go potty. She said NO (I should have still put her on the potty). The next minute she was standing next to my brother Archie, we hear her scream "Oh no! I spilled water!"

She had peed her undies. Oh it was hilarious. And no, she doesn't get that she needs to sit on the potty before she goes! But to her credit she has learned how to pull her undies up after sitting on the potty. Baby steps.

Speaking of personality and attitude, little Maddie also goes to time-out in style a.k.a. with her head buried in her hands like she's ALL sad about it. What gets her in time-out? Usually coloring and writing on walls, or most recently the shower floor. or maybe I should add picking boogers and eating it to the list? yep, our most recent gross discovery. Wonder where she picked that up from?

Maddie also loves painting her nails (she did it herself today, should have taken a picture of the feet, it was ALL OVER), her blanket + paci (that really has to go bye-bye FOREVER sometime), princess bed and princess undies.