First Day of School

I dropped McKenzie off for her first day of preschool a few minutes ago. She has been SO excited! She woke up early and begged to get her uniform on, wolfed down her breakfast, and waited rather impatiently to go! When we finally got to school she asked, "Is it time for you to leave yet, mom?" Sniff, sniff! My baby is growing up and doesn't need me! It made me a little teary eyed as I pulled away, but I guess it's easier than if she were bawling and had to be torn away from my leg.

Here's to a good year!

Dinosaurs!

I was feeling stir crazy, so I took the girls to the dinosaur museum in Ogden for the first time today. Even though I wrote down the wrong exit number, we eventually made it, and the girls were WONDERFUL! It was a peaceful (and long) car ride, Alli happily rode in her stroller when we got there, and McKenzie didn't run off or misbehave. What more could a mom ask for, right?

Here's a few of my favorite snapshots:

McKenzie and her typical goofy pose.

She thought she was SO cool when I took this picture!

The girlies riding a big lizard-dinosaur thing in the park.

Allison on a turtle. She was so proud of herself, isn't it adorable!

Ride 'em cowgirl!

I wish I had my video camera when we toured the indoor museum. But, to tell the story, I have to provide a little background... This summer, Cris and the girls toured the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Pointe with some of Cris' family. While they were there, McKenzie heard some of the dinosaur noises in the background and asked Aunt Ashli, "Did you hear that? Maybe some dinosaurs are still alive!"

So... today when McKenzie saw the animatronic dinosaurs that moved and made noise, she was a little frightened. She inched up closer and closer to the fence. Then, she muttered, "I told Ashli some dinosaurs are still alive!" I think I laughed the rest of the way through the park! I love that girl!

Chatterbox

Alli is becoming more and more vocal lately, which is so much fun! (Mostly because she hasn't learned to tell me 'no' yet!) She can mimic noises so well that sometimes it's hard to tell when she knows a word, or is just parroting it back! One of my favorite things is watching her hold her hand up to her ear and see her pace around saying "Daddy!" and "Hi!" while she pretends to be on the phone. Total girl, right? (And in case you are wondering, she adores jewelry and shoes, too. No joke!)

She also cracks me up when Cris is in the car with us. She can't stop saying "Daddy! Daddy! DadDEEE!" over and over again. I'm not quite sure if she thinks it's a game, or if she's frustrated she can hear him talk, but can't see him.

For my own documentation, here's the words she's been saying:

• Daddy
• Mommy/MomMom
• Hi
• Hello
• Bye bye
• Doggy
• Thank you
• Banana
• Kiss
• and today, she started pointing and saying 'This'

Unfortunately, she's also perfected a shrill glass shattering scream. It's the loudest, most horribly painful noise I've ever heard come from something so cute. Sometimes, she squeals when she's frustrated. Sometimes when her sister pesters her. And sometimes I have no clue what causes it! All I know is that I don't like it. AT ALL. That noise grates on my patience like nothing else. Mix that in with an almost-4-year-old who is overly anxious for school to start next week, and we've had a fun week at our house. And it's only Wednesday! Now I feel like I need to scream! :)

Digital Scrapbook

A few people have asked what program I use to design the mastheads on this blog, so here's the scoop! The program is 'LumaPix FotoFusion Scrapbook Essentials featuring SEI'. (Say that three times fast - go on, I dare ya!) It was a freebie I got at an SEI class at the Scrapbook Expo. I'm just digging in to digital scrapbooking, so there is so much I don't know about it. But, I do know that this program is EASY! If you want it, check out http://www.shopsei.com/, and while you're there, check out club sei - it's the mommy scrapbookers friend.

More Menzie-isms

The computer went back to the shop again, so I've been unable to blog for a few days. While I was gone, you missed a few funny conversations with my daughter. Here's a few to brighten your day:

"Grandma, sometimes does Grandpa make you go to bed when you want to stay up and watch tv?"

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My sister was changing her baby boys diaper. McKenzie leaned over, opened the diaper back up, pointed, and said "Thats a silly one!"

Thats what Menzies do

We've been trying to encourage McKenzie to stay dry all night long. She's about at the 50/50 stage now where it seems like she could stay dry all night, but doesn't think it's worth the effort. We're trying to earn stars on a progress chart, but still lacking motivation. Any ideas?

Anyway, here's a snippet of a 'staying dry' conversation from last weekend.

Daddy: Uh oh! Your pull-up is wet! Why didn't you stay dry like a big girl?
McKenzie: (cocks her head to the side, thinks for a minute and shrugs) Thats what Menzies do on Tuesdays! (stops and thinks again) What day is it?
Daddy: Sunday.
McKenzie: Sometimes thats what Menzies do. Even on Sundays. Sorry Dad. I'll prolly (probably) be dry on Mondays!

Ga-Loon!

See Kenzie's stitches in the pictures above. She's refused to let me photograph it. Stinker!

I was able to sneak out of work a few Mondays ago, so Cris and I decided to take the girls to Lagoon (pronounced Ga-Loon by my oldest) We knew Alli wouldn't be able to do much and thought McKenzie could use a buddy on some of the rides, so we "borrowed" the daughter of a woman I work with. The girls are only a few months apart and have played together a few times - plus it saved her from getting a sitter that day. Luckily it turned out great! The girls were old enough to wait in line and go on rides in the kids area ALL BY THEMSELVES!, which was obviously a major accomplishment. Their favorite ride was the hydroluge - which meant Cris had to take them seperately at least 3 times. The older girls had an absolute blast. Alli, however, was not a fan of the heat. Still, the day was a success!

Tooele County Fair

My MIL and I took the kiddos to the county fair this summer. Although I wasn't entirely impressed, it was a wonderland for Miss McKenzie! Animals, snow cones, crafts AND rides?! She nearly passed out from sheer joy!

Later, as I related McKenzie's joy over the scrambler ride to Cris, he suggested she go back for a second helping. McKenzie got to go back for a date with mom and dad, and I sincerely wish I would have had a camcorder with me to document the pride in her step and she pranced from the parking lot holding her daddies hand on their "date". I just love how the little things are so exciting for her!

Back in the swing of things...

My computer was the unfortunate victim to a virus. I finally got it back last night (plus an extra two gigs of ram), and am working on catching up in life. How did I become so dependant on a computer, by the way? Banking and paying bills seemed impossible. I couldn't call anyone, because I think I may have forgotten how to use the phone book. And I had withdrawals when I could no longer stalk some of my favorite blogs. Hopefully that is all behind me now.

While I was absent, we've stayed rather busy. I've been working on the back yard, which now has 6 trees and a bunch flowers that are starting to fill in the flower beds. The kids play set "Dew-Hickey Park" received a fresh coat of stain. And, I made use of the tomatoes I grew by bottling my first two batches of salsa - without major incident! Wooha!

Allison is growing like a weed. She has some of the most kissable cheeks I've ever seen, however, she's learning to toddle away from me when I start looking like I'm about to devour them!

I signed McKenzie up for Catholic preschool, which should be interesting. More than half the students aren't Catholic so I'm hoping our religion won't be an issue. The program is highly recommended and taught by a family friend who is highly respected, so we are both excited about it. Right now, I'm not so excited about the uniform policy, but who knows? I may end up liking it.

McKenzie also received her first set of stitches. She was sleeping over and grandpas and fell on the frame of the trundle bed when she got up in the middle of the night. She came out of the bedroom saying "I think I'm bleeding" and never even cried (until the needle came out at the ER)! She ended up with about 5 stitches at the top of her cheek, near her eye. She had to be wrapped up and held down while they stitched her up, (which was hard for me) but otherwise, she hasn't been bothered in the least.

I've also had my share of doctor visits. I've been having problems with my knee and hip for 15 years, but this last year had really started to bother me. 15 years ago they had me expecting a knee replacement, but luckily thats not the case. My tibia (shin bone) is rotated more than 60 degrees, so they'll need to break and reset it. The problem? This surgery is usually only done on toddlers, so only pediatric orthopedic surgeons have expertise. The knee specialist I had been seeing pulled some strings and got me an appointment at Primary Childrens hospital next month. We'll see if the surgeon agrees to take my case from there. If he does, no walking for 8 weeks. Should be fun!

I've got a bunch of fun pictures to post, some funny stories, and other junk to share, so stay tuned! :)