She did it!

This past weekend was filled with grand ol' times. I went out fri. night with my lady freinds for a pleasurable evening at the Comedy Sports in Provo, (recomend it to anyone, it's hilarious and clean) then afterward headed to an Italian place a few doors down for some gelato (fancy name for really good ice cream stuff.) It was a blast to catch up (person to person, nonblog) style. Sorry, no pics of the event.
Then...
Saturday was a big day at our house. Issy finally completed her first chore chart. A few months back we had started this chart giving her morning tasks such as making bed, brushing teeth, getting dressed, and getting hair done. And evening tasks such as cleaning playroom, brushing teeth, going "potties", and getting on jammies. So every morning/night as she did as asked, she would get a sticker to put on her chart. My hopes were that she would get to the point that she would just do these things on her own without needing help or being asked. Then I would move her onto bigger chores like fixing meals, cleaning out rain gutters, and spongebathing her father. Generally a month has 30 days, give or take + two separate day/night chores = a grand total of 60 stickers to earn in a months time, or so I thought. There were many mornings we had to rush out early, and nights we came home too late to actually get chores done. So it took just under two months to do it, but she finished this past week. She was thrilled! ( and I didn't know if it was because she got to finally pick out a prize, or because she thought the chart was complete and she'd never have to clean her playroom again) not wanting to spoil the moment I didn't mention that it was only the beginning of the rest of her life as my little slave. Issy chose to go to a movie as her reward. So we took her to see Monsters and Aliens. She got herself a drink , treats, and a large popcorn with extra butter. It was, in my opinonation, tops.

Example of how issy makes her own bed. This particular morning she hadn't slept with her own bedding because of an "accident". I let her make it how she wants, it's cute, but i'm confident as she learns one day it will be a little more neat and tidy.




The chart in all it's completion glory!


Sheer enthusiasm!

Here is one of Alyza just to through onto the end because I think she is so wonderfully cute!

Funny Saying of the Day (shaping up)

Issy was on one this evening. As we were getting ready for the day's end, she has a few "Evening Chores" we call them, before she goes down for the night. Her nights chores consist of cleaning the playroom, getting into p.j's, using the restroom, and brushing teeth. This evening her playroom was especially bad, she calls it "my playroom has a bomb". Frequently (make that constantly) when we clean the playroom she complains saying "this is so boring, this is dumb, and this is SO stupid" ( i know, she didn't hear it from me). So as she was carrying on about her dislike for cleaning up I rebuked her saying "Issy, quit using those words, those are not nice words, i know you don't like to clean, but when you make a mess, you have to pick it up" so we continued picking up when she wined "oh this is so stup..." And I shot her a quick mother glare (you know the kind) Issy hadn't finished her sentence but her whole expression changed and a smile came across her face as she quickly recovered and finished "...pendous, this is stuppendous mom. Not stupid because that is a bad word." I hadn't been aware she had even heard that word before. All the same I was amused. And yes, the playroom did in fact get clean...eventually.

Going Green, breakfast style

As some of you may know, St. Patricks Day holds another meaning for me other than leprechauns, pots-o-gold, and drunken Irishmen; It would be the day I celebrate my birth. Yes ma'am, 25. I'm not kidding myself, apart only to Abor Day and Presidents Day, it's probably the lamest holiday the year offers, but it had made me feel cool growing up saying, "I was born on St. Patricks Day." Then have people look at me wide-eyed in amazment. A little extra attention on a birthday never hurts.
We started out the big day with a tradition I remember from my youth, green St. Patricks Day breakfast. One thing that I noted making and eating my green meal was how totally unappetizing food looks when it's green. However as a youngster, and for my kiddos it was just fun to eat. We had green waffels, green eggs, and green milk.
Then my husband took us out for a day on the town. We shopped around, then come 5:00 we dropped the childrens off to the in-laws and I had an evening out with the husband (It's always nice to have some adult time). One of my favorite parts this year was Issy's excitment for the holiday, she had learned about it in preschool, and had to notify all who came our way that it was St.Patricks Day and her mom's birthday.

Draper Temple Open House

This past week we took our small family on a little feild trip. I met Jake with the girls and went to lunch, then headed over to the Draper Temple open house. We Had gone to a wardhouse first in draper where we parked, went inside and watched a video on temples while we waited for a bus to shuttle us up to our destination. Isabella really enjoyed the ride, it was her first time on a bus. Being in the Temple with our little ones made it an extra special experience for Jake and I. Isabella is getting to an age where she ponders on things and asks questions. She was interested in knowing what each room was for, and studied each painting we had passed by. Her favorite room was the Brides Room. However, Jake had mentioned two-thirds into our tour that he thought they were giving cookies out at the end. So naturally as any 3-year-old would, her interest shifted from the temple to finishing up for a tasty treat. When asking Isabella on our way home what she enjoyed the most she said "The bus ride and the cookies", I guess it shouldn't have been to big of a surprize. (And if Alyza spoke, I think she would have said one word, "cookie!" She herself downed about four.) It was a fun and memorable outing.

Funny Saying of the Day

Ok, so this is totally just for me. Isabella quit frequently will say something that will just tickle my funny bone. After such an occurance I'll call Jake up and say "Would you like to hear the funny saying of the day?" he then in turn will say "ya", so I tells him, and he and I will share a laugh together. Then I let him get back to business. Seeing how I'm really bad to write stuff down, and even worse at keeping a journal, I thought I'd use my newly acquired blogging skills to jott all this good material down. Now for the funnies..
During our well balanced lunch of dino nuggets and ketchup, Isabella, as if trying to get a good conversation going, soothingly stated in her little adult way "Oh, eating is just so relaxing."
Well there you have it, inspired from the lips of a 3-year-old.

Something Old, Something New

This past week and a half has had some down's and up's. Why I say it in that order Because on the 20th of Feb. was the down. Our Cinder puppy (a gift to Isabella on her 2nd Birhtday, and named ((by Issy)) "Cinderella" after the Disney Princess) Was hit by a car and killed. It was our own fault really, we had let her out without putting her on her chain. We had become over confident in her. She would scratch on the door to go out, then after doing her business, and visiting a few canine friends in the area would always return home. Jake and I thought it was cute that she had an agenda. Needless to say we were a pretty sad family.
Now for the up.
Our sweet neighbors the Wahnschaffe's had recently recieved a Schnauzer. They, already having a previous dog, now with two, decided to give us their schnauzer. So we went from owners of a black princess schnauzer, to a white boy schnauzer. Keeping with tradition we let Isabella name him. Gratefully instead of Prince Charming or something close along those lines, She picked Koda. She herself keeping with her own little tradition of names from her favorite Disney's. Koda being from Brother Bear. We have loved Him. He has a sweet little face and personality. He fits in perfectly here at our house.