Woohoo!!!

We're on our way to Yellowstone for a weekend away! Without the kids!! Happy Birthday to me!!!

(I'm posting this as we drive on the freeway, isn't that just awesome?)

What Princess Are You?

I guess I'm Aurora. Um, okay...


You Are Aurora! (A.K.A. Sleeping Beauty.)

Thoughtful and loving. Authority figures probably have been sheltering you all of your life. Thankfully you're a very tranquil person who is content with what life has given you, but secretly you want to know how the outside world works.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Success!!

After several weeks of desperate attempts, Jacob took a bottle of milk today!!!! Jeromy told me he'll take me away for the weekend for my birthday if I weaned Jacob, so I've been trying ever since. Sometimes he'll take water or juice, but never milk. So I think I figured it out today: use the Playtex Nurser bottles, feed right before a meal, and DON'T hold him. He sat in his high chair while I held the bottle for him and he took it! Yeah!! This in no way means that we're done, but the hardest battle is won! Hurray!!

Silly Goose Kierra

Kierra drew a paper in Nursery yesterday that they tied around their necks. I forgot to ask her about it yesterday, so I asked about it this morning.

Me: What does your sign say?
Kierra: Um. (tracing her finger along the words) Happy Birthday, Kierra. (tracing again) I'm absolutely right.
Me: (chuckle) Um, no, actually it says, "I Can Forgive Others."
Audrey: How, Mommy?
Kierra: (very animated) You give them a drink of water and they grow really big!!

Wow. Great job listening in Nursery, kiddo. Maybe we should touch on that in FHE tonight...

Personality Test

So, I guess I'm an idealist. A different personality test I took awhile ago said I was a skeptic romantic (whatever that means). But, for the most part, I think it's pretty accurate. I'm not sure about the creativity inner world thing (well, maybe, but don't we all live in some sort of little world?), but I sure do hate conflict within relationships. And I might have unrealistic standards about love, but I sure met them with Jeromy! He wants to know how they got my picture in the test. Har har. Anyway, it's a fun little test, you should take it!

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. In love, you tend to have high (and often unrealistic) standards. You are very sensitive. You tend to have intense feelings. At work, you need to do something that expresses your personal values. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist. How you see yourself: Unselfish, empathetic, and spiritual When other people don't get you, they see you as: Unrealistic, naive, and weak

What's Your Personality Type?

Definitely NOT the Same Ward

I just have to complain a little. First off, I LOVE Relief Society! It is so nice to gather once a week with fellow sisters and get to know them while learning about the gospel. And then there's the quarterly Enrichment nights where we can come together and just have fun. Oh, and all the mini-groups are the best idea to branch out and get to know people on a closer level while sharing common interests and talents. Women need other women. I need that bonding now more than ever since I don't know anyone up here. Plus, I'm missing my old calling of Provident Living Enrichment leader. It was the best!

We've lived here for over 3 months and finally had an Enrichment night last night for the first time. I only know 2 girls in the ward, so I invited them to carpool to the church (which is about a 10 minute drive- I know, weird), but neither of them could go. So I went alone anyway, trying to muster up courage to make new friends. Guess how many women showed up???? 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Including me!!!!! What is up with that??

There, I'm done. I know it's up to me to quit my judging and just get out there and make friends. And who knows, maybe by doing so it'll make it a better ward in the long run. But until then, it's going to be a struggle. What happened to mini groups a couple times a month? What happened to supporting your leaders and going to Enrichment even if you didn't really feel like it? What happened to welcoming new sisters? Oh wait, they do that here, they just skipped me. Ugh.

Happy 3rd Birthday Kierra!!!

Yeah!! Kierra turned 3 on Wednesday!!! And we were so blessed to have all our little friends from Provo (and Grandma Wilson too!) over for a big party. Thanks for coming everyone! We're so glad you made the trek to spend this special day with us. It was so fun!

As many of you know, Kierra is obsessed with Mickey Mouse. So I tried to think of some fun Mickey Mouse stuff to do, and they had some great stuff online too. I went to a Disney outlet store recently and they had these Mickey Mouse birthday hats, so I got one for Kierra, not totally sure if we'd have a big party or not. Now I'm wishing I had gotten a ton! Oh well. Anyway, everyone needed Mickey ears so we made some!




Then we played Mickey Mickey Mouse (a.k.a. Duck Duck Goose). The kids loved it.


Kirsten and Marla, watching the festivities.


The Wilson's, on the sidelines.


My little 3-year-old Linus. She loved the birthday hat and wanted to wear it all day long! Even when we were driving to the restaurant that night, she was sad that she forgot it at home.


We went for a scavenger hunt for the goody bags, just like in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.


Lunchtime! I tried to be a little creative with lunch: circle melon balls and grapes, triangle chips, and square sandwiches. But I didn't even tell anyone that! Geesh, I totally could not think straight that day. We did have different colored and shaped ice cubes with Sprite, that was fun (would've been more fun if I had gotten clear cups! Geesh!). The kids had a blast with lunch though, if you understand 3-to-5-year-old humor.



The presents. Thanks for all the cool toys, guys! They've been having so much fun with them!!



Kierra got a bike for her birthday. Here she is trying to figure it all out. Not bad for a first try! (Again, notice it's night time and she still has her birthday hat on! So cute!)


Fun Mickey stuff from Grandma Corless.



Thanks for a wonderful birthday everyone! Kierra told me that afternoon, "Mommy, my birthday was really good!"

Picture Tag

The idea here is to take pictures without cleaning up first. Let me tell you, it was hard not to, but it was fun anyway.

1- The Fridge

2- The Closet

Luckily, we just had company for Kierra's birthday, so it's more tidied up than it's been since we moved in. But this is my side (I think I need more clothes that have to be hung up....)


The middle. Ugh, I've got to figure out what to do with those boxes of stuff!!!!


Jeromy's side. Huge isn't it? We could totally use it for Jacob's room when we have company. Love it!

3- The Toilet

This was the dirtiest toilet. Nice, Audrey: no wiping, no flushing. Lovely.


(Kristine, am I missing a #4 or was it a typo?)

5- My Favorite Room

I couldn't pick just one, so here's my 2 favorite rooms. This is the loft where the kids can keep all their toys and books in one spot. It's usually much messier than this.


And this is the other reason why I love the loft: I can do stuff on the old computer or cut coupons or study or do crafts or whatever! while the kids play. The trick is keeping them out of my stuff!!


And this is my other favorite room: the library. I can put all my favorite books and my favorite reading chair all together and sit and read in peace. Love it!! And someday we'll replace the roll top desk with a piano. Yeah!

6- The Kitchen Sink

I'm still recovering from Kierra's birthday party:)

7- The Laundry Room

Well, it's more of a closet than a room, but here it is. I LOVE my new appliances! They rock! The washer has an extra sanitary function that heats the water to 130 degrees, so I know the germs are gone. And the dryer senses when the clothes are dry so it doesn't overdry and waste electricity. Boy am I spoiled!

8- Self Portrait

I was so tempted to wait until after I got a shower to post all these, but I guess that would ruin the spirit of the thing. So, ya, still in my pj's.

9- What Your Kids Are Doing

Um, watching Caillou on TV. Maybe I'll play outside with them later to make up for it. But probably not.

10- Dream Vacation

Wow, how to choose? I really want Jeromy to take me to Hawaii, just the 2 of us, so that's first priority I guess. And I've never been on a cruise, so that'd be fun, especially if it was up to Alaska. It'd also be great to go to Jerusalem, Greece, D.C., Italy, San Diego (where we got married), Australia, yada yada yada. But we haven't been on a trip by ourselves in 6 years, so we're hoping someday it'll happen, and then we can't afford anything like that for a long time anyway. As for with the whole family, wouldn't it be great to go to Disneyworld?

Thanks So Much, Disney Marketers!!@!*!!

Audrey: Mom, did you know that the Jonas Brothers are totally cool? Ya, cuz they make people scream! They make adults scream! (I'm laughing by now, of course) I'm serious. They're totally awesome!!


(Me thinks they've been watching too much TV lately:)

The Twilight Diet

So, it could be because I've been doing the Slim in 6 workouts for a few weeks now, or it could be because I've been doing Weight Watchers Online for a little over a week now, or it could be because I think I'm losing my milk, but I'm pretty sure that I just lost 5 pounds over the course of a couple of days due to the giddiness and anxiety associated with reading the last of the Twilight books (it wouldn't be the first time this has happened:). It's so embarrassing that I get that wound up about it. But if it means that I keep losing weight because I don't feel like eating, then maybe it's worth it to read them all once more before putting them away for good? There's some justification for you.

Okay, okay, okay, I'm done blogging about the book already. On to the kids!!

Breaking Dawn Finished!

Um... wow, great, fabulous, fun, exciting, AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just a few words to describe this end to the Twilight series. *sniff *sniff. This is the last one, but Stephenie Meyer did say that she would write one more with a different main character than Bella. Any guesses? Once you read Breaking Dawn, I think you'll have a better idea who it is, but maybe we should take a vote anyway. I also confirmed that her next project is Midnight Sun, Edward's perspective of Twilight. Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!! (You think we could convince her to do all 4 books from his perspective? I just can't get enough!)

I finished it a couple of nights ago, and now I'm just waiting for Jeromy to finish it so we can talk about it! I'm bursting at the seams!! Has anybody else finished??? Let's talk!!!

To add to all the excitement this week, I thought I'd post this fun picture when I met Stephenie Meyer at a BYU Symposium last year with my friend Jenna Flood. It was so much fun! Not to mention a little surreal, but it was cool to just talk with her one-on-one for a minute. Ya, we're tight now. I wish! (Hey, look, she's got red eyes!!!! he he he)


Now to get back to the land of normal:( Ah, well, it was a fun few days while reading it!

Ooh, so I'm thinking that a bunch of us gals should go out for an I Love Edward/Twilight Series party the night Twilight the movie comes out. Any takers?

Breaking Dawn

Is anybody else as excited as we are for Saturday?

Some Recent Prayers

The other night, it was Audrey's turn for family prayer, and for the first time she wanted Kierra to help her. Well, Kierra still needs help with her prayers, so Mommy fed lines to Kierra who then fed them to Audrey. Why not get Daddy in the line so he can participate too?

Anyway, the next night Audrey helped Kierra with her prayer:

Audrey: Please bless Mommy.
Kierra: Please bless Mommy.
Audrey: Please bless Kierra.
Kierra: Please bless. (thinking that Audrey was only addressing her, not telling her to say her own name)
Audrey: (trying again) Please bless Kierra.
Kierra: Please bless.
Audrey: No, no, please bless Kierra.

This happened several more times. It was very difficult to keep from laughing! I don't know what it is about their sweet praying voices, but when you throw something like this in, we just have to laugh! I know, I shouldn't complain about them being irreverent when I'm showing this type of example during family prayer. How do you not laugh, though?

Soccer Celebration

So, Audrey's last soccer game was last Tuesday, and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it. A week later. Ya, sorry.

She did very well, and by the end of the season (okay, a month later), we had convinced her to try to actually play for a few minutes before wanting to be the goalie. She would get too frustrated when EVERYONE else wanted the ball too. She just wanted her turn to kick the ball! Without getting pulled by the arm or kicked or knocked down...

Boy, is she a great goalie! She caught the ball almost every time and immediately threw it into the throng of preschoolers. Way to go, sweetie! We're so proud of you!!


Picking grass while the team is at the other goal.


The team.


The trophy.


Grandma and Grandpa Wilson were so proud of their eldest grandchild so they treated us all to Chuck E. Cheese!! Yippeeeeeeeee!!



Whoa! You can't even see her she's moving so fast! Holy cow!!

Forgetful

I was just using the internet, and I closed down the browser before finishing. I said, "Oh, I forgot!" out loud and Audrey asked, "What did you forget, Mom?"

Me: (Being silly) I forgot to kiss you!
Audrey: (Giving me a dirty look) Nooo, what did you forget?
Me: Hmm, what did I forget. Oh, I forgot to spank you!
Audrey: (Smiling now) Noooo, you forgot to repent!

What?!?!?!? How old are you?

Mickey Mouse at the Library

Upon arriving at the library yesterday, Kierra insisted that her little Mickey Mouse toy wanted to come inside too. I reminded her that last time we went to the library she brought a toy and lost it there. She said, "Okay, Mommy, but he will be so sad," and put him on her seat.

When we got back out to the car, I handed Kierra her Mickey while she was getting into her seat. She said, "See Mom? I told you he would be sad. Hmm, I better buckle him in to keep him safe." and she put him in between her belly and her buckles. She's so funny.

Corless Coeur d' Alene Vacation 2008: Day 6-7

Friday, July 18th

First of all, the most important thing that happened this day is the Psych Season 3 Premiere!! Woohoo! We all made sure all the kids were in bed before it started and that everyone had plenty of snacks and dessert before it came on. I'm so glad my family enjoys this show as much as we do!

Also, we went to some silver mines that were kinda cool. They let us pan for gold afterward, which the kids thoroughly enjoyed. And Granddad got all of the kids a little velvet pouch of gems that they got to choose from a big box in the gift store. They've been loving them.

After the silver mines we went to this little town of Wallace. Huge waist of time, imo, sorry guys cuz it was partly my idea. The brochure made it look like a cool little old-timey village that would be fun to walk down the Main Street and look in all the shops. Nope. Just a bunch of antique stores. Oh well.


Audrey was taking a close look at the authentic mining cart behind her.


Kierra's always got a smile for me, even when she's freezing.


The gang going through the mine. No wonders we needed hard hats: look out Heather! Justin: "Why am I here?"



Saturday, July 19th

Check-out day. We got some take-out from Zip's, a favorite from my high school days, and went to Post Falls Park to eat before saying goodbye. All good things come to an end. :(

Some random pictures of the trip:




What we'll miss: family, all the good non-diet food, relaxation, watching 2 episodes of Psych each night, getting a good tan (unfortunately I can't say that about the rest of the crew. Sorry! I hope you don't peel too badly!)

What we won't miss: the stairs, being sick on vacation, the ants (they were huge! Like a half inch long or something, and they were everywhere! We've been home for several days now, and I'm still swatting at my feet every time they itch. Yuck!)

All in all, we had a great time. It was a very fun and relaxing trip, a great way to take a break from it all and just have fun with family, making memories in the process. Hope you all had fun too, Corless Clan! When do we start planning next year's shindig?

Corless Coeur d' Alene Vacation 2008: Day 3-5

Tuesday, July 15th

My turn to cook and clean the kitchen. And I got sick. So nothing really happened for me that day. Jeromy got to go golfing with the boys, though. And the girls had fun at the lake while Mommy took a nap. Thanks for watching the girls, Shelly!

Wednesday, July 16th

Played in the lake again, and just relaxed while the guys went golfing, again. We were very blessed with great weather the whole week, albeit a little hot in the afternoons, but it was usually quite nice down by the lake.

Thursday, July 17th

The Mommies all got to go shopping! No kids and no hubbies!! They had an outlet mall there, and they had a Disney outlet store that was kinda fun.

And everyone finally convinced me to go out on the jet ski. I'm totally converted now. They rock!! It was so much fun! And the lake was so beautiful, especially once you got past our end of the lake a little bit. Way cool, we're totally getting one someday.


Heather, Abby, and Audrey enjoying the water.


Hannah, the house we rented, and all 400 steps up to it. Well, it felt like it at least. Being on the side of a cliff, it was a very tall skinny house, but it was great.


Granddad video taping the kids playing. See, I told you it's hard to get a picture of him without his camera.


Audrey learning how to swim. She firmly states that she taught herself everything there is to know about swimming. Well, not in so many words, but it was hard to give her any pointers.


Audrey's dog paddle turned wounded butterfly stroke.

Corless Coeur d' Alene Vacation 2008: Day 2

Monday, July 14th


We spent Monday at the local amusement park, Silverwood. It's comparable to Lagoon, but we like it much much better.

First things first, we had to go on the carousel!


Audrey and Kailey in the bucket thingy.


Kierra, waiting for her turn to get on the buckets. It's funny, she was so excited waiting in line, until it was her turn and then she was terrified to get on.


Poser


Kierra and Logan on the airplane ride.


Our family filled up the whole train. When we finished the loop, nobody was in line so the conductor asked if we wanted another go. The adults were all too dizzy, so we passed. It's sad that as you get older the less you're able to handle at an amusement park. A kid ride! Giving you a headache!! The first real ride of the day!!! Sniff, sniff, I must be getting old.

Daddy and Kierra getting ready for the train to start.


Laurel and Audrey.


Going...


Going...


Gone!


Cameron pretending to be sick. What a goof.


Kierra and Logan on the helicopter ride.


Uncle Cameron and Kierra on the Ferris Wheel. My mom said that when she saw the kids getting into the bucket seats, she started going into worry-overdrive, telling everyone to hold onto those babies! I was around the corner feeding Jacob, so didn't notice, but now I see why she was worrying! Just one little bar to keep in wriggling little ones! Yikes!!



Getting dressed after the water park. And showing off muscles??


Audrey telling about her fun time at the waterpark and getting ready to go back to more roller coasters!



As we were leaving, Kierra was pushing the stroller and practically hopping up and down as she ran to keep up. She was being so cute that I really wanted to take a picture, but now I'm thinking a video would've been better. Oh well.


Silverwood was a lot of fun! Nice weather + good company + fun rides + delicious food= YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!