Potty Trained

After eight years of buying diapers I am done. I potty trained Kate. I know she is old but for me it is so much easier to have my children be older. I don't have to fight with them as much and it takes all of a day to potty train. I started on Monday as soon as Kate woke up. I took her diaper off and set her on the toilet. She cried so I offered her chocolate to sit on the toilet. After that she became smarter than me and would sit on the toilet every five minutes just to get chocolate. A little later we were at the table and she started to pee. We ran to the bathroom and she went the rest of the way on the toilet. It was smooth sailing after that. A little later she wanted to watch "Tangled" so I said you have to poop in the toilet so she did. "Tangled" was her big prize for pooping in the toilet. That night we went to my in-laws and she did just fine. I was worried about dance on Tuesday but Kate said "Miss Beverly has a toilet, I don't need a pull-up." She went at Miss Beverly's, she went at the restaurant, she did great while we ran errands, never needing to go and so far she has had no accidents. She is still in diapers at night but at all other times no diapers, not even underwear. Yep, Kate goes commando everyday. I am hoping this changes but I haven't fought it. I switched to the smaller purse and I am loving no poopie diapers. Why didn't I do this sooner?

Great Weekend

I had a fabulous weekend. It started Friday with a surprise call from my mom offering to babysit. Which worked out perfectly because Ryan had gotten tickets to the Suns game. Usually Jack gets to go cause it's last minute and we don't have a sitter but this time I got to go. It is always fun to go on a date with my husband. We chatted watched some basketball and enjoyed each other's company. Even better that the Suns won and were blowing out the Clippers so we left early. Saturday I watched the morning session of conference then we went out to Goodyear to watch Rathen play baseball. I love watching baseball and being outside. The weather was nice if you stayed in the shade, which we did. Show Low won the first game to make it to the championship game but then they lost to Florence in the championship game. But it was a great day, really any day watching baseball and being outside is a great day. Sunday was too much fun. I love watching and listening to conference. I love the speakers and how each talk is directed straight to me. I loved all of the talks. President Monson's talk on temples was such a reminder that I need to go more often. I mean really is it 15 minutes away, tops, not 2500 miles like the examples he gave. I loved Paul V. Johnson's talk on affliction. I feel like I have had a very blessed life but I know others who are going through some tough times and I thought of them and prayed that as they listened to this talk they felt peace. My new calling is ward missionary so President Uchtdorf's talk on serving others and being a good example in order to preach the gospel was especially for me. Of course I can't forget the Sunday afternoon talk by Lynn G. Robbin, on parenting. I starred the notes and will be rereading that one again and again. I love conference. Conference also means that on Sunday we get to go to my parents house for beans and bread. It is a great tradition that I love. Maybe it's more about the family all getting together than the food. It is so much fun watching the boys, Jack, Jay, Jake, Durham, Raulin, Ty, and Wyatt all play whiffle ball until the big boys, Ryan,Dale, Matt, and Joe kick them off the field. It is fun to hold the babies and to just be together as a family. I am truly blessed with a wonderful family.

Like I said my weekend was great!!!!

My boys

I know my boys won't always get along but the other day Jay came home from school so excited and told me a story about seeing Jack at school. Then Jack came home from school and told me the same story but with better details. Here is the story as told by Jack with some help from Jay. "I was heading in and starting to line up from recess. Jay was on the swings and I said get down I want to give you a hug. So Jay got down and as soon as he did about 10 girls, Jay interrupts and says only 5 girls, start chasing Jay. I thought Jay can handle this so I walked away. I later thought no he needs me help so I roared at the girls and they all started giggling. But some of the girls got away. I then had to go in to my class and I looked back and the girls had all tackled Jay. I then heard the aide say now girls get off of Jay. So I knew he would be okay." I love this story. I hope my boys always have each others backs. Like I said both boys were so excited to tell me the story so I had to document it.

California wedding

Ryan's cousin Kelly Ricedorff got married in California on March 26, 2011. Any excuse to get me to California and I take it. We had such a great time. I left on Thursday with Jackie and Rachelle and Ryan drove up Friday with Jack, Rolana, Randy, and Rebecca, notice there are no kid names in this sentence. It was an adult only trip and well worth it. Thanks to Alexis and her willingness to babysit also thanks to Karrie, Kelli and Matt for helping out. I didn't worry about my children all weekend I knew they were okay. Thursday we drove straight to TK Burger and got a yummy hamburger and onion rings then walked around the shops at Huntington then on to the Hyatt Regency (gotta love priceline). Jackie, Rachelle and I just hung out by the pool, shopped and ate. It was nice. Friday we woke up to room service then onto the jacuzzi. Once we had to check out of the hotel we headed to Huntington Beach. Yes, it was freezing but the sun was out and we had to sit on the beach. I love watching the waves, reading a magazine and just relaxing all easy things to do on the beach. That night we met up with Ryan and the rest of the crew. Uncle Don had a nice get together for all of the out of town guests at the hotel so we met new people and caught up with old friends.

Saturday was the wedding day so we didn't do much just hung around the jacuzzi. We were wanting to visit the beach but there was no time and it was very cold and overcast. The wedding was incredibly beautiful. It was in Corona, CA at a place called Star Ranch. The location was in the hills and we were told on a clear day you could see the mountain peaks with snow. Unfortunately it was cloudy but it was still beautiful. The reception was so fun. We all ate and danced and just had an all around great time. Congratulations to Kelly and Joseph I know their life together will be wonderful.

newest niece

Congratulations to Jason and Shelley on their new baby girl. Callie Ann Ricedorff was born March 25, 2011 at 12:05am. The entire family was in California for a wedding but thankfully Shelley's mom was able to make it in from Utah. I am so excited to get to know this baby girl and to hold a little baby.

Kate's house

Kate made a new house for herself one day. She took out all of the cereal boxes and arranged them into a rectangle and then stood inside. She actually opened the door (one of the boxes to get in). She asked if I would join her but I had to decline. I didn't think the house would fit me. I love when my children use their imaginations. Even something as simple as making a house out of cereal boxes.

Spring Break Recap

Spring Break Recap

Apparently Julie has had some time off and I am not updating my blog enough cause she now has time to read it. So here it is.

Spring Break was great. I love that there is no schedule and that we can do what we want.

Monday:We had breakfast bright and early out at Usery Pass. It is now a tradition because it is two years in a row. I love being outside, the greasy food, watching the kids all play, and hanging with my family. My brothers and sisters are great. We chat and laugh and tell a lot of stories. It is a shame that we are all so busy. I could hang out with them everyday.

Picture below: Jack, Kyley, Abby, Hannah, Taylor, Wyatt, Jay, Dad (Dale), Raulin, Jacob, Durham, Ty, and MacGregor

Tuesday: We didn't have anything planned so I took the boys to deposit their money into their savings account. I think both boys have more money than me in savings. I am proud of how hard they work to save. We are trying to have them save $5.00 a month for their missions. No where near the $400.00 they need to serve but it is a start. After the bank we went to the temple. I was needing something for the kids to do and it is cheap. I was thinking we would have a nice walk around the temple maybe even watch a movie. No, they just want to push the buttons on the little computer things and see all of the Books of Mormon. But it is a start and maybe I can make a habit of taking them monthly.
Wednesday: We made the trek south to visit the Chesley's. My kids love it out there. Kate gets spoiled by Kyley and Jack and Jay just play with their cousins. So I get to hang out and talk with my sisters, Karrie made the trip too. I love being at Julie's house. I think that all backyards should be an acre and that kids should be outside as much as possible. When my kids are dirty then I know they had a good day. Wednesday was a good day because they were nice and dirty. That evening Jack went with Jacob to the movies and Ryan took Kate and Jay so I went and got a pedicure. I love spoiling myself.
Pictures below: Kyley and Kate, Jay getting followed by the dogs because he had pizza. It was great everywhere Jay went the dogs followed.


Thursday: We headed up north to Show Low for Randy's 40th surprise birthday party. We got into town right at seven. Then Rebecca took off to pick him up. I think he was totally surprised. It was fun to be up in Show Low again. It had been a while since we had been. The NCAA basketball games also started today.
Friday: We went to see Mark and Kristin's new house in Snowflake. I love it. With a little (a lot) of redecorating it can be a house that they can stay in forever. Right now it is totally livable it just needs some updates, like new carpet, paint, and such. But it sits on an acre so my kids were outside the entire time. After Mark's we went to watch Rathen play baseball. I love baseball. I love being outside and eating seeds. Show Low beat Round Valley 11-1. Gotta love a run rule. That night we met Mark and Kristin for dinner. It was great to see Mark and have him tell me about the super moon. I didn't notice a difference in the moon but I guess it's true we were closer to the moon.
Picture below: the only picture I took of our Show Low trip. It is Flat Stanley on the quad cause that is what we do in Show Low.

Saturday: we headed home and and watched basketball all day. My bracket is totally messed up since I had Notre Dame winning it all and they lost. But it is still fun to watch.
Well here is my spring break in a nutshell. Now it is back to school and back to a schedule.