Back to School!

Neeley was definitely ready for her first day of pre-school! Last night she laid out all of her cloths that she chose to wear today. She also had about 20 pairs of panties laid out too. Not too sure why, but I guess you could say she was prepared for anything!

Kayla had to lay out her "Neeley goes back to school" outfit too. You never would have guessed she wasn't going too!
Neeley was a good sport at sharing her "moment" with Kayla.
After a lengthy photo shoot we started our walk to school. Actually, Neeley rode her bike. On our way we stopped in at Grandma Marlene's to show her how cute the girls looked.
After a few pictures at Neeley's spot in the table, we left her to bask in the glory of being in Miss Vicki's class! She immediately ran off to play with her friend Jocelyn. I think the fact that she was allowed to bring a special doll or animal to class today helped her to be brave. Tucked away in her backpack was her special bear and her "tiny one" just in case she got scared.
Neeley's favorite part of pre-school is this cute little playhouse. Inside is a kitchen and plenty of dress ups! Just her cup-o-tea!

After dropping Neeley off, Kayla and I went on a special outing. I told Kayla she could be my buddy while Neeley was at school and asked what she wanted to do on some of the days. She told me she wanted to do fun things like go shopping and out to eat. That's my kind of 3 year old! We met my friend Angela at Arctic Circle so Kayla could play with her daughter Amy and we also happened upon another friend and my sis in law Nikki. It was a fun way to pass the time.

When we picked up Neeley she was so excited. She had made a beaded necklace and a placemat for snack time. This year she was able to tell me everything they did that day. Good thing because apparently last year all she did was "Nothing Mom!"

My dear girls,

Neeley, Kayla and Lilah, I love to watch you play together.  You are really starting to share things together and are becoming great friends.  Just today I listened to you talk together in the back of the van and as you would say Neeley, "You crack my whole head up!"  

Neeley you are so excited to start pre-school next week.  You were elated when we bought you some new school cloths today along with some new shoes.  I can't believe how grown up you have become.  Just recently you have started caring for Lilah like a little baby sitter.  You can carry her (much to your Dad's horror), make her smile and entertain her for long periods of time.  You make sure the door to the basement stairs is kept shut so she won't fall.  You love to kiss her goodnight and will stop whatever you are doing and run up the stairs to catch a hug from her before I tuck her in.  Kayla is your best buddy but she can also annoy you at times.  She wants to do everything just like you!  You enjoy playing with friends and love to swim.  You are getting brave about jumping in the pool by yourself.  You love to be independent and do things like get your own drinks, pick your own outfits, brush you teeth and attempt to style your hair.  I love how grown up you have become.  You can understand a good joke now and are a good companion to me.  

Kayla you are a spit-fire.  You are always good for a laugh and a tickle.  You have a voice to sing and use it often.  Every song that you have heard just a few times you can belt out.  My favorite is to listen to you as we drive down the road as you sing your little heart out.  Big sister is someone you really look up to.  If Neeley does it, you think you should too.  It has been hard for you lately as we are getting ready for Neeley to go back to school.  Yesterday in the shoe store you just cried when you heard you weren't getting new shoes too.  I tried to make your little hand-me-down shoes sound special and you bought in to the tale.  You are always so patient being the younger sister and since I am the youngest I can really relate to your situation.  It's hard to be a step behind but you handle it well.  Most times instead of complaining you just look to the future when it will be your turn!  Your 3rd birthday is coming up soon.  You told me yesterday that you want a baby doll with pig tails and curly hair and a new big girl bike.  I am looking forward to having you as my buddy while Neeley is gone to school.

Lilah, you are a joy to have.  Never a cry unless you are hungry our tired, content to play and you are great at putting up with doting big sisters.  It is so fun to get a giggle out of you and still be able to snuggle you close.  You love to play with your toys (blocks are your favorite), eat and go for walks in your stroller.  Last night we took you swimming.  The pool had a shallow area where you could crawl around in.  You enjoyed yourself by splashing around in the water.  The other day we were all in the kitchen and you were busy playing in the family room.  The next thing I knew, here you came up the stairs to greet us!  You aren't allowed to do these kinds of things yet.  You are soooo little.  We can't take you anywhere without someone commenting on your beautiful deep blue eyes and your long eyelashes.  You really are a beauty!

Girls, I love you.  All three of you.  I couldn't imagine life without your beautiful faces.  Sometimes (or a lot) you whine or cause trouble but all of the good times make up for that.  I love to just sit back and watch your little personalities bloom.  Thanks for bringing me so much joy and love!

I love you forever,

Mom (The greatest name I have ever been graced with!)

ABC Gum!

Today Lilah got a hold of Kayla's secret ABC gum stash. And yes I do mean already been chewed. Kayla came running in to tell me that Lilah had her gum. When I got to her she was happily chopping on what must have been at least a few pieces of gum. She was all sticky, had some in her hair and some in the carpet. And she was definitely NOT happy when I took it out of her mouth. A little later I caught her with a runaway grape in her mouth. I guess you could say that the hoover stage has arrived.

Lilah can now sit up and can even sit herself up from a lying down position. She just doesn't last very long yet and goes into tri-pod mode very quickly! This morning when I went to get her out of bed (at 7:00 a.m. thank goodness no longer 6:15!) she was kneeling up to the crib. I guess that means we need to lower her mattress now too!

Lilah is still as happy and content as ever. She eats mostly real people food and really loves her oatmeal. I make it really gloppy and she shovels it in all by herself. She really is a joy to have!

Beauty Shop Talk!

Kayla: You are going to look gargious.
Neeley: How do you want your hair? OK let me tell you all of the different ways I can do it. ALL of the ways are pretty. So I can do it with this clip like a fan. Do you want it like that Mom? Well, it is not really that cute but do you want it like that Mom?
Kayla: Oops, I tooted. Is that ok Mom? Scuze me!
Neeley: Be brave! Being brave is like when you go into a forest and do what someone says. Or like when you go to someone's house that has a dog!
Kayla: Get this comb out of your hair Mom. It's stuck! It's stuck!! Can you get this out???
Neeley: I am an artist Mom. I am making you look like art.
Kayla: Pass me the spray. I need a clip.  Your taking all of them!
Neeley: Kayla, do you want me to do your hair like Mom's so we can find you better? (This comes from when I want to convince them to wear matching outfits I tell them it is so I can find them better when we are out.)



As you can see we played beauty parlor today. They say beauty is in the eye's of the beholder and in this instance, as I sit here looking like a cheap trick, I am beautiful! The girls spent so much time doing my hair and make up. After painting 80 nails, getting a comb stuck in my hair, getting glitter in the eyes, losing much of my hair,  watching my make up be gouged by little fingers, being engulfed in a cloud of hairspray and refereeing fights over the hair clips their masterpiece was complete!

On the fly!

I believe the last sentence of my last post was that we were now in need of a vacation.  Jeremy must have agreed because when I came home from the gym on Friday he said "Let's go to Yellowstone!"  I am always game for a trip, especially the impromptu ones, so we packed the car and left an hour later!  The first night we stayed in Idaho Falls.  It was fun to tell the girls how their daddy was born there.  We had an excellent room at an incredible rate (Saving $60 thanks to our travel agent status!) that overlooked the falls.  We were on the eighth floor looking down at the falls and out at the mountains.  For just a little town, it was a big view!  The girls thought the luggage cart was a jungle gym and ended up playing on that all night (sorry to the other guests who missed out on using it!)  We swam in the pool and then got take out from Chili's. 

In the morning we headed down the road to West Yellowstone where along the way we saw Bear World.  We've never been there but were out to make this a great trip so we squealed the tires as we swung around to catch it.  It was awesome.  You first drive through a park area where there are tons of deer, antelope and best of all... BEARS.  Tons of them.  We saw them swimming in the pond, following the cars and lounging about.  The girls loved it and couldn't believe it.  We were glad to catch the bears here because we didn't see any in the park.  After the drive you go into bear world.  They have some really cute rides, a petting zoo and a baby bear cub area.  It was so fun to see them all and Neeley even dared to touch a baby dear.  If you know Neeley you know this is some progress!

After Bear World we headed down the road for West Yellowstone where we found the cutest little cabins to stay in there.  We shopped around a bit and then relaxed at the cabin.  In the morning we headed into the park.  Neeley asked if there would be slides and swings there.  I think she was disappointed until we started finding the deer.  I had to explain to them that Bear World was a cage and that if you find animals in the park that it was much more special.  We stood and watched a doe eat her breakfast for a long time.  Then we moved on to the hot pots.  The girls didn't like the smell but they sure loved looking for the troll under the walkway.  They walked along chanting, "Troll, troll come out now.  Troll, troll come out now!"  Any time there was a knot hole in the wood we had to check to see if we could see him!

On to Old Faithful for lunch and the big show. I have never seen so many people gathered to watch it before. Kayla loved it until it started to spray us but Neeley thought it was all great. On our way to Jackson the girls slept and watched movies while Jer and I sat in awe at the beauty that surrounded us. Jer was ith'in for his fishing pole and I was having visions of tent camping (just a short burst, mind you, but then it quickly left when I thought of the cabin!) When we got to the hotel and started to get the girls ready for bed Neeley said we couldn't go home the next day because we hadn't been to Yellowstone yet. Where did we go wrong??? The whole "park" word really can throw a kid off!The next morning we went shopping in Jackson Hole for a while before heading home. And of course, the last stop we had to make... the candy store!

This trip brought back memories of being a kid riding around Yellowstone in the camper. My mind was flooded with memories of traveling with the family as a kid and I am so glad we hopped in the car even with only an hours notice so that we could make those same memories with our kids.

Lady Liberty!

Friday and Saturday were spectacular days.  The convention really kicked off Friday morning with a Ray Charles impersonator singing America along with a 300 person YTB choir (choir robes and all).  At the end of the song there were tons of fireworks and a huge curtain dropped to reveal a replica of the statue of liberty.  The original plan was to make it the same size as the real statue of liberty but the Ram's Edward Jones dome wasn't tall enough so it was only 20 feet shy of being true to size.  It really was amazing.  After the convention they are donating it to a city nearby as a tourist attraction.  It took over 200 semis to get it there and over 6 months to build.  

The next thing they did was announce all of the directors and call them up on stage.  I had an unbelievable feeling of pride seeing Jeremy and his business partner Mike go up on that stage.  There were over 20,000 people in that dome and only 200 were directors.  All of the directors were wearing the olympic type sweat suits.  Last year at convention, Jer wasn't a director and he came home and told me he would be by the next year.  I know how many countless hours he has put in and I know how hard he has worked so it made me so proud to see him up there.  They became directors in less than one year in the business.  Many, many never make it and the ones that do usually take over two years to get there.  So to see him up them was awesome!

There was so much energy in that stadium.  It was fun to hear from many people in the company and be among others who are working so hard for financial freedom.  YTB is a really cool company.  It was refreshing to see a company that was not afraid to acknowledge the hand of God in all we do and to start meetings with a prayer.  And, unlike corporate America, they encourage families.  When I worked for McDougal Littell it was forbidden to take spouses or family to any conventions or on any business trips (Jeremy was often my stow-away!)  This company encourages you to bring families and be together.  It was so fun to have Lilah there with us.  We would have loved for the girls to be there too if it wouldn't have been so many meetings.  Everyone made such a fuss over her.  I am sure at least a thousand people coochie-cooed in her face.  She just kept looking up at them like, "blah, blah, blah, I know I am cute.  Yes, I look like my Daddy.  blah, blah, Yes, my eyes are blue.  I am seven months old.  blah, blah, blah, Yes, I'm a future director, blah blah blah......"  She wasn't the youngest though, I saw a 3 week old baby there.  But she sure was a trooper.  12 hours of meetings on Friday and Saturday and she was good through them all!

At the very end of the meeting they let go millions of balloons from the ceiling.  It was amazing how cool it looked.  When we stood up the balloons were to our waists.  Lilah thought it was the greatest thing ever!  She just sat and watched in awe as they all fell.

This was an amazing trip!  We really didn't have much time to relax but it was worth every minute.  We really enjoyed ourselves and had a nice break from every day life.  Only now we need a vacation!  Good thing we can get one of those wholesale and tax deductible!!

That's me with one of the founders, Kim Sorenson.

My first plane ride! I loved it!!!

Travel Heaven!

Last week we left for St. Louis with just the babe. Thanks to Grandmas' and Grandpas' we were able to leave Neeley and Kayla behind. We went to attend a huge travel convention for the company we own our travel site through.

On Tuesday, our first day there we checked into our hotel and decided to go see some sights. We took a walk down to the arch. If you haven't been to St. Louis you really can't know how impressive the arch is. Yes, it looks big in pictures but when you stand under it and look up, you realize it is HUGE! Really an architectural masterpiece! And to see it right next to the river in a beautiful park it really is an awesome place to see! We had planned on going back to ride to the top so I didn't take pictures that night. Then we got so busy that we never made it back there. I guess that gives me reason to return! After a nice dinner we went and settled into our hotel, put the baby to bed in the closet and relaxed for the evening.

The next morning, Wednesday, we had to be over to the convention center by 7 a.m. so we were up early. We spent the day in sessions learning more about the biz (in my case and much review for Jer). It was really fun to meet many people on our team that I have heard Jer talk about but never really met yet. After our sessions we had just enough time to freshen up before the directors dinner. They had an elite steak dinner for just the directors (those with over 500 members on their team) and their spouses. In the picture you can see Jeremy's business partner Mike Stott and his wife Pam. It was fun to hear from "Coach", Scott and Kim the founders of the company.
Wow doesn't she look like her Daddy in this pic??!

On Thursday the day started out as a repeat of the day before, up early with meetings.  Then we snuck away after lunch to go to the Card's game.  I am not much of a sports fan but for some reason I LOVE BASEBALL GAMES!  I think it might be because it is one sport I can watch and actually keep up with.  Anyway, Jeremy loves them too.  Some day we will take a road trip to see a game in every major league stadium, but until then we will take what we can get.  The game started at 1 p.m. so it wasn't completely full.  We bought some tickets from a scalper and were pleasantly surprised to find that our seats were in the shade the entire game!  Lilah had her own seat and seemed to enjoy the game, I'm sure due to the snacks we kept shoving her way!  That night Lilah was exhausted so Jeremy let me go to the "Coach's Corner" dinner with everyone while he stayed behind to let Lilah get some sleep.  I couldn't believe how massive this dinner was.  There were thousands of people there and  the America Center said this was the biggest dinner event they had ever had.  The event was by invitation only for those who have 30 people or more on their team.  And the chocolate cake... let's just say it was worth the cheat!