Smart.

I dropped my phone a couple weeks ago.

Barely dropped a foot or two.

It died a final death.

I went to the store to get a new one.

They don't even have "dumb" phones out on display.

But, they did have a smart phone for $1. So I got it.

A week later a cute old japanese grandpa was standing next to me waiting to get kids from school.

He asked me how to scan those bar code thingy-s on his phone.

I said I have no idea.

He started laughing hysterically and taunting me saying I was way behind the times.

IT's not. that funny.

But that was kinda funny.

Does anyone know how to scan the barcodes?

And I'm learning that the camera phone needs an incredibly steady hand. Not mine.

It's so handy for capturing I wish I had my camera moments!

This is Cody approving his ninja Halloween costume.

I just had to go pick one and hope he liked it.

He Loved it and was posing in the mirror for a while practicing his ninja moves!

Getting ready for school:)

 Little people we scrubbed off the house. Naughty girl. But so dang cute I wish I could have left them

:)

These little people are showing up everywhere - papers, roads, houses, coloring book corners. I want to keep them all!

 Tapping!

Wet Diaper bum!

Preschool Rules

I was going to the bathroom today. It's not like I expected peace and quiet. Mackayla came in to join me then closed the door. Macey ran over and shouted, "Mom can I come in? It's okay girls can look at crotches."
??

For Macey's preschool we went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch. 

  The pumpkins weren't grown there, of course...it seems there is nothing fresh grown in this part of the country...sigh. 

Still, it was a perfect day to enjoy the sunshine and play in open space. We even got to churn butter, wash baby clothes and make necklaces:)

One morning Mackayla put on my shoes and socks and marched around while I got ready.

I'm going to have to say one of my favorite things about this stage of Mackayla is the way sometimes when she thinks something is a good idea she emphatically agrees and says "Ya" in such an enthusiastic but serious way. It just needs to be recorded, but it's not. I hope I don't forget!

Also, when she is in a teasing mood or kinda feisty mood she sticks her lips out and scrunches her nose when she talks. So cute.

I'm the primary secretary in our ward now.

We have a young ward - just kids 2 and under tallies up to 60 kids!

It should be an adventure:)

33

I'm 33 years old.

Kinda old. Kinda young in the grand scheme of things.

Ben took all the kids to get me a birthday present one night.

The kids wrapped it and made sure I didn't see it before they gave it to me.

They are so cute. They got me workout clothes.

I'm going to bootcamp and it uses muscles I haven't used in a decade, definitely not the running muscles:). Kind of like crossfit, but at a park where your children run around semisupervised on the playground. Love it!

They did such a good job:)

For dinner we had Papa John's Pizza. 

It's my favorite food:)

For my "cake" I made lemon meringue.
I borrowed an America's Test Kitchen cookbook from the library. I love that show! They had this recipe and I really wanted to try it, so I got to make it.

yum

This next part isn't complaining. It's hilarious to me. I'm not sure if I'm going to miss this, but it's soo entertaining.

We went to exchange the size of my birthday present. A quick little morning errand.

Mackayla was cross and cried the whole time I got her dressed. Then I realized she chose to not really eat breakfast so I gave her a granola bar and squeeze applesauce in the car I just barely vacuumed and scrubbed carseats in.

Then the girls debated in the car over which songs to listen to. "Giggo" is Mackayla's favorite, it's actually "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" pop version but at the beginning it says yo yo and Macey thinks it's giggo. We have listened to it so many times I can rap it in my sleep. Macey and I both decided to endure it again over listen to Mackayla whine.

In our quick search for the right size the devil unleashed in Mackayla and she grabbed Macey's squeeze applesauce just as she uncapped it and gave it a giant squeeze. If she can't have it NO ONE can. On our way to check out Mackayla took the new clothes in the cart and wiped her snotty nose (from crying) with them. By the time we got to check out she decided to pick her nose. I couldn't get her to stop and pay at the same time. Then the devil inside of her unleashed on Macey once again and for no apparent reason she lunged at her grabbing face and hair. 

The sales kid was either entertained or appalled.
Our quick errands are awesome.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Trader Joe's is one of the cheapest places to shop here. I think that says something about the price of food. I miss Winco! But I did rediscover one of my favorite cereals.

There are two ingredients. Puffed wheat and agave nectar.

Delicious!

People were raving about their pumpkin pancakes so we got some mix and tried it.

It's good but I'm not going to say drop what you're doing and go buy some now.

Cody was a man on a mission at his last game.

He scored his first goal this season!

Someone (dad) might have given him an incentive. It lit a fire and

was so fun to watch him.

I have had a change of heart with Macey. 

Her constant outbursts exhaust me. They surprise people and make them think she is mortally wounded.

Usually she is just a little upset.

So I was thinking about how fun and sharp she is. And realized there's two sides to every coin. If I am going to enjoy her enthusiasm and compassionate side, I have to accept her exceptional drama and sensitivity.

Basically nothing has changed, but my mind set has. I love you Macey Begacey-if-I'm-allowed-to-call-you-that-today.

We really enjoyed each other today!

 I LOOOOOVE conference.

So does Macey...

We used the idea from this website with conference cash and a candy/prize store and it worked like a charm.

Saturday was pretty chill. We watched conference while the kiddos made a mess and played.

This one pranced around like this for a while.

We had overnight cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Mix them up at night and bake them in the morning.

One of my friends did that in Pullman and there's nothing better than smelling baking cinnamon rolls on conference morning.

I could go on about conference...so many favorites. Lots of messages for women and families.
Several of them mentioned this scripture.
I love that they all speak about what they're inspired to speak about.

I can't wait to read them.

Church and Prayers

In the ongoing development of Mackayla's prayers, her latest ones go something like this:
"Father, do-mm (and then name each person sitting at the table) and usually do-mm happy is in there. Occasionally she has taken to saying do-mmm - which being interpreted means thank you - and then points to each item of food on her plate and looks at me for the word in case she isn't sure what I cooked. I always peek! Maybe I should stop so my kids keep their eyes closed too.
Then she ends "Jesus Lubboo (i.e., loves) me." We all say amen and she remembers that's the ending part and says it too.

Our ward (church congregation) was just split and we have new boundaries. One of the mom's of one of the sweet girls in Cody's primary class (got that?!) told me that her daughter started crying when she found out Cody wasn't in her class anymore because they were in another ward. She had taught their class and told me that they always sit together and sometimes even hold hands:)

Macey calls Mackayla "my baby" when she's talking about her to other people.  If anyone simply asks Macey her name, she will happily tell them and then introduce our entire family, so it frequently comes up. One day Mackayla looked at me when she heard her and said "no baby" just to confirm to me that she's really not a baby. In case I wasn't sure.

ReDone

A little redo on our table and chairs.

There is the old version:)