Some Fun:)

This week was actually a lot of fun. (Despite the fact that I'm not completely over my head cold.) Aunt Jen wanted to do something nice for us, so we went to Paint a Pot, which is actually named "As You Wish" and then out for a lunch.

Vash and I painted a Hippo bank. Vash loved it until it was fully painted, and then bawled because he couldn't then paint an airplane and a dragon statue as well, resulting in a mini melt down.

Jen and Rhyla painted a cupcake box. Cupcake is one of Rhyla's new words, so we knew why she picked it. Actually, Jen painted the cupcake while Rhyla painted Jen. (Her arm and watch anyway.) It was super fun and much enjoyed by all.

Rhyla has picked up on one of Vash's old tricks. She raises an arm high into the air and shouts "Buzz Rescue!" (Have I indoctrinated my children with Disney? You betcha.) It's funny to see her do almost the exact thing Vash did at that age. Rhyla also is learning how to use a phone. She got an Ariel toy phone a few weeks ago and she's begun to hold it up to her ear and say "Hello Mermaid?A bub bye."

Pirate Vash. I smell a Halloween costume. So, NOT speaking of indoctrinating.... We were listening to our Disneyland music in the car, as usual, (Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters soundtrack) when Rhyla does one of Vash's tricks. She holds her hands in fists, shakes them near her face, while saying "Sca-wee!" (scary) in a spooky voice. Vash looks at her, then says "Oh Ya-ya, it's not scary. It's Buzz!"

Then as an early anniversary celebration, Craig and I spent Friday night and Saturday at the Arizona Grand hotel. We left around noon on Friday, went to the mall and watched the new Batman movie, headed over and checked into the hotel. Went up and ate dinner at Rustler's Rooste, then enjoyed the hotel's wave pool for a while before spending some time in the hot tub. Next morning, after breakfast, we floated down the lazy river probably 25 times before hitting the hot tub again, then getting ready to check out and head home. We loved it so much but kept thinking how much the kids would have enjoyed it too. "Can't you see Rhyla splashing around with her mouth wide open in the wave pool?"

"Wouldn't Vash get a kick out of these inner tubes?"

"Oh, the kids would have loved that slide!"

We decided that we'll have to go back and have the four of us spend a night sometime.

Isn't she sweet? Loving on her Baa-baa while Vash loves Dumbo.

Last story for tonight: A week or so ago Rhyla was already asleep and Nana, Vash, and I, were watching Chopped. One of the secret ingredients was fish, which Vash has only ever seen alive, swimming in a tank. So, you can imagine his shock when the chefs began beheading and gutting their fish. 

"Oh no, Mommy! The fish get big ouchie boo boo! Oh... Oh no! Too bad, the fish is big ouchie boo boo!"

I felt so bad for not realizing how that would look to him. I tried to explain that the fish couldn't feel it and he was a sweet boy for caring. Just to be safe though, we changed the channel and don't talk about fish at all now. I'm hoping he'll forget. (Although, he does make the bawk bawk sound when he eats chicken nuggets, so I think he'll figure it out eventually.)

Personality

Whatever our family is lacking in the good news department, we totally make up for in personality. The older my little ones get, the more interesting and humorous they become. It helps to have so many fun things to write about when I feel tempted to pull my hair out about things over which I have no control. For instance:

Went to cousin James birthday party last week. Rhyla learned that, when in her flotation device, if she kicks her legs in a certain way, she'll spin in a circle. So she  circles around and around, shouting "Wee!" with her hands in the air.

And when something is really tasty she says "Yummy Yummy Yummy!" Accentuating the 'y' a little more each time. She's also starting to dance. She holds onto one of our fingers and then wants us to twirl her around, again saying "Wee!" Sometimes she'll just twirl around by herself and say "Pree!" (Pretty)

Vash is becoming more goofy everyday too. (BTW, he calls Goofy Goosey for some reason.) He's got a collection of small plastic frogs that we put into a baggy so they don't get lost. He keeps Stretch in there,too. Anyway, he carries those around. Talks to them. Has them talk to each other. Lets them drive the cars in his Hot Wheels collection. We got Rhyla some miniature princess dolls because she loves mermaid so much, and Vash has them talk to each other too. "I'm Belle. Whats yur name?" 

"Princess Jasmine."

"Jasmine? Oh... (Moves to new princess) What's yur name?"

We actually bought him a Buzz Gun because he was doing so well with the potty and we wanted to reward him.(10 poops in the potty = a buzz gun) But the last few days he relapsed and we had to put it away. He only had two poops to go! :( 

Kids are super tired here. Rhyla puked one day. Craig puked another. I've been super congested and Vash is catching my cough. Vash was trying to understand why I was sick. 

"You have ouchy boo boo?" He aks.

"Yeah, sort of. Mommy is sick."

"Oh, abby ju ju.... what... abby ju ju?" He completely forgot what he was trying to say and was all hung up on what he actually said. I was laughing but then said, "Ochy boo boo, you mean?"

And Vash laughs and says, "Oh yeah. Abby Ju Ju..." laughing it off. 

Rhyla's still our reading girl. And her speech has developed so fast that she's repeating more and more things we say to her. She walks around the house chanting "I can read! I can read!"

Two more stories:

1) Rhyla had lost her binky in the night and was crying. Craig went in to help and Vash woke up. "What doing daddy?"

"Looking for Rhyla's binky."

"Oh, Vass's find it." He then grabs his pirate binoculars, holds them up to his eyes, and looks around the practically pitch black room. 

2) Vash had to go get routine blood work done last week. (Forgot to mention it in the last blog.) He was so great! He sat there on my lap and I told him it would just be a little poke. He just watched them stab that needle into his arm and sat there. Looked at the tubes fill up with his blood. "What's that?"

"It's blood. It's in the veins in our body."

"Oh." Shrugs. The woman drawing his blood and the guy sent in to help hold Vash down (Toddlers usually freak out) were amazed. "I have never seen that before," he says. 

"Isn't he just too good?" she asks.

"Thanks," I say. When they're done, Vash grabs my arm, puts in on the table and says"Mommy's turn."

We laugh. "No, honey, Mommy doesn't need blood drawn today."

"Oh Mommy, "he says, calmly" it's just a little poke!" 

An Ordinary Week

While I wish I could say that this week brought news that all our wildest dreams were coming true and we celebrated with an impromptu trip to Disneyland, I'm sorry to say that this week was simply ordinary. Bringing, in fact, no news at all. 

But the kids were funny. I had to keep them out of the house all day Friday because Nana and Papa were feeding the missionaries and needed things to be clean, (not an easy task with toddlers around) so we spent all morning playing with toys at Wal-Mart then ate lunch at Long John Silvers. I meant to get only Sprite, but accidentally got a shot of Dr. Pepper in the cup. The kids never have caffeine. I never have caffeine. So when Rhyla started screaming "WEE!!!!" at the top of her lungs, throwing her arms up in the air, and shaking her head back and forth so many times that her hair was a static mess, I remembered WHY we don't drink those kind of things. Crazy little soda high. LOL. Vash on the other hand, has come to a sad conclusion. After jumping off the bed, yelling "Buzz Light Year to the rescue!" and plummeting to the ground, he comes up to me, shakes his head, and says, "Mommy, Vass's can't fly." Isn't that an awful realization? A quote from my favorite TV show (Dance Academy) says something like: "I knew that in another life, I could fly. So that's why in this life, I dance."

They opened a new exhibit at the Science Center. It's called Math Alive. They basically show you the mathematical side of music, bike riding, snow boarding, and some other popular activities. The point being that math is a part of everything. 

These are some robots Vash was loving on. Did I mention Rhyla says robot all the time now?

Rhyla got a squirting fish from the gift job, while Vash picked an excavation block. We chiseled and bushed for hours to reveal a long neck dinosaur. Aunt Jen named him Stretch.

Rhyla plays a new game. Craig says "I love" and Rhyla shouts out "YOU!" She's a real parrot these days. Craig even got her to say "Daddy, we go to Disneyland please?"

Vash is out growing the terrible twos finally, and completely melted my heart last night. We were getting ready for bed and he'd been a little difficult all day. I was getting exasperated and he could tell. "Mommy, are you ok?" He asks.

"Mommy is happy when Vash is behaved. When Vash fights Mommy, it makes her sad."

Then he pointed to me and says "Mommy happy," then to himself "Vass's happy. I sorry mommy," and gives me a hug. I almost cried, it was so darn sweet.

Independence Day

I love holidays. Mostly because it means Craig will be home from work, but also because we usually get to eat something yummy and do something fun. The 4th of July is no exception. We ate, we went to the theater and watched the newest Madagascar, and set off some fireworks. Who doesn't love a holiday where you get to blow things up?

These are just cute pictures of the kids in the new outfits Nana bought them.

Funny story: Kate was listening to Water Music by Handel and Vash walks in. "What you doing, Tatie?"

"I'm listening to Water Music."

"Water Music?"

"Yes, by Handel."

"Handle? No no no no no. (Shakes head.)No Handle. Screw driver."

Another: Vash was throwing a temper tantrum and Craig was trying to restrain him. I came in and they're both lying on the floor, while Vash is sobbing. I reach down and pick him up, asking "Hey, what's going on?"

"Vash's mean to daddy and daddy grab Vash and daddy Squeeeeeeeeze Vash," he says while stiffening his body, shaking, and squeezing his hands into fist. Hilarious. Wish I could have caught it on camera.

Rhyla says lots of Bee words now. 

Baby, book, bellee (Believe, it's a book title she likes to read), and the cutest, Beez! She throws her arms down to her sides and shouts it, accentuating the "Z". 

Now for a short, Disney Princess comparison. My daughter looks like Snow White, reads as voraciously as Belle, and sits by the fire place like Cinderella. Just something I noticed and wanted to remember for later.

Vash was super excited when he woke up and Papa had decorated the house for the occasion.

Papa said it made his day to hear Vash oohing and awing and saying "So pretty Papa!"

A rare picture of me. Ha. Rhyla and I are rocking the piggy tails.

Vash wanted to light the fire works but obviously that wasn't going to happen. (Hence the glare.)

Yey! We love America! Let us show it with fire, sparks, and hot dogs! No really, we love it. Just have a funny way of showing it.

Rhyla wasn't sure if she liked them or not. Vash would smile but moan, while Rhyla would alternate between crying or staring hesitantly. 

Just like these pictures. Oh, and I didn't get a picture of them but I made cake balls! I tried to make a raspberry layer cake with chocolate frosting but it literally fell to pieces. So Kate said to turn them into balls and dip them into chocolate. For starting out as a mistake, they ended up tasting really good. Reminded me of the raspberry truffles from Sees. 

As for the rest of the week, it was pretty normal. Went to the mall and played. 

Rhyla loves Perry and asks to wear this shirt almost every day. Vash's current favorites are his rocket and train shirts.

Would you believe we got three free rides on this carousel? The kids were just happy to sit on it and play, but people kept coming up and putting money in for us. Oh, they had a kid that wanted to ride too, but when I offered to give them any change I had, they all turned it down. I even offered to take the kids off and everyone just shook their heads and said not to worry about it. If that isn't a sign that deep down we all have the capacity to do and be good, I don't know what is. 

Looking cute for church. Isn't he getting big?

Can't see them, but she's wearing the most adorable Minnie Mouse pink glitter shoes. She's getting big too... Can I put an order in to the stork now?

Is it July already?

While several of the last weeks have felt like months to me, I was surprised to realize that it was already the seventh month of this year. Time isn't going quickly. Not for me. And I don't want it to. But I realized that Craig has been graduated for two months, we've been living in his parents home for one month, and we'd both really hoped to be employed and elsewhere by this point in time. It wouldn't feel so bad except that Vash asked me today when we could go home. I didn't know how to tell him that we couldn't. I try to remind him that home is wherever Mommy and Daddy and Vash and Rhyla are together. but I know what he means. Just like how I know what Craig means when he says he wishes he had work, but he works 12 hours everyday painting houses. It's not what we want. We're so grateful to have a place to live, with people who care about us. But Vash wants a home that belongs to us. That's full of our things, and our smells, and our routines. We're grateful for an honest income, but Craig wants a job that requires him to use the degree we spent the last 6 years earning. I know that this is a learning experience, and I know that we've grown closer as a family. I see that the Lord is giving us an opportunity to improve while things are falling into place elsewhere, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious for things to work out sooner rather than later.
On a lighter note, Rhyla has a few new tricks. She says Bees (pronounced Beez), dances by spinning in circles, and if you say "All aboard!", she'll respond with "Boot boot!" Like the trains at Disneyland, you know?
Went for our check ups with the Doctor and both kids are doing very well. Vash is still tall of the tall at nearly 38 inches. (Just think, with sneakers on he could ride Splash Mountain!) The Doctor asked Vash how old he was now and Vash got shy, refusing to answer. Rhyla, who was laying on the examination table, looks at him and says "Three!" Clear as day. The Doc busted up laughing. Vash counts all the way from 1-10 and I guess Rhyla picked up on it a bit because she does "1-2-3! Weeeeee!" And throws her hands in the air. And people say kids our age can't remember Disneyland!
Vash has been super good at his potty training the last few days. We made him a chart (suggested by my Grandma) where he can put stars up for pooping and peeing in the potty. At the end of the boxes where the starts will go, we put pictures up of the toys he'll be working for. After 20 pee's in the potty, he gets a Sesame Street Trash truck, and after 10 poops in the potty, he'll get a Buzz Lightyear Astro Gun. He's thrilled to pieces and insisted on sitting on the toilet for almost two hours after we showed him the chart so he could earn a star. He tells every one we meet about how he's pooping and peeing in the potty for Trash Truck and Buzz Gun. They look at me strangely, but can you blame them?