I'll go where you want me to go

Yesterday they split our ward. We knew it was coming, because our ward was gigantic, and growing all the time. Have I mentioned the 80 kids in nursery? Anyway, they took the two wards that were in our development and made 3 wards of them. Things for us mostly stay the same; same bishop, RS president, EQ president, etc. We just lost 1/2 the people.
What was great was the humor of the stake president while doing this. It's the 4th split in 2 years in this development. Here are some of the highlights:
1. The opening hymn was "I'll go where you want me to go." After he announced it, he paused because everyone was laughing.
2. He talked about how our stake really needs some new buildings to meet in. Four of the wards in our stake actually meet in buildings that belong to other stakes because ours are too full. I guess it has been pretty tough getting the land and permits, because they have been working on it for a long time. He told us that there are two peices of land that are under contract right now, but with the way it's been, he's not sure how it will work out. He said, "Do I think they will be done in the next 12 months? No. But I prophesy that during your lifetime, you will see these buildings completed." It was awesome.
3. He also talked about how our stake needs to split. There are 14 wards in the stake right now. I guess that the Church likes to have 3000 people per stake, and in our stake we have 5650. Once we reach 6000 they'll divide us into 2 stakes. Anyway, he said, "The River Trails ward currently has 27 pregnant women. They are doing their part. I encourage all the other 12 wards to do the same. We do have one singles ward and we don't want any pregnancies there! But if all 13 of the other wards would help out, I believe we will have a new stake in 9 months."
Little does he know that in our ward there were 40+ pregnant women before the split. We're making up for the singles ward for sure! Have I mentioned that every member on my street is pregnant? It's only like 5 houses, but still, it's pretty good odds over here!
We were sad to lose some of our dear friends to the other ward, but we really do feel that this is for the best and that the Lord's hand was in it. And what a blessing to have a stake president who is able to see humor in life's situations!

Habla espagnol?

On Saturday I went to the temple by myself while T stayed home with the kids. As I was leaving, a woman who I recognized from inside the temple came up to me. She asked me something, what I heard was "... habla espagnol.... pequito?"
Well, I do habla espagnol pequito. Mucho pequito. I took one semester of Spanish in college, but was constantly getting it muddled with my 5 years of French previous to that. So, of course I dumbly respond that I can speak Spanish, and suddenly she launches into some discourse that I totally didn't get. After a while, with many hand signals and talking S-L-O-W-L-Y, I figured out she needed a ride to the bus stop at the University Mall. It really clicked when she said, "su caro, vroom vroom. University Mall. Bus."
So, I gave her a ride. I tried with all my might to recall my Spanish and absolutely nothing came back to me. Everything was in French!! I couldn't even remember how to say "My name is Laurie." It was so humiliating for me, but she was as nice as could be and I was grateful to have a chance to help her out.
I think her name was Consuela. I think she was from Mexico. Unfortunately, she didn't even get that much from me.
Mental note: must learn Spanish. Obviously it would be very useful.

Twice in a year? Not fair!

It's not like I ask much out of life. Actually that's a lie. I ask for, and get, more than I deserve. But, I still feel a little jealous of Travis right now. He is being forced to go to Europe next week for work. What rotten luck for him, eh? He's going for some crazy James Bond adventure type thing. He assures me it won't be much fun.
Meanwhile, I'll be here looking for friends. Let me know if anyone wants to go to the zoo, the children's museum, the park, etc. We're in for sure!
PS-- If you're some sicko that lurked onto my blog and now wants to attack me, forget it. My next door neighbor is a police man and he assures me I'll be safe.

Green grass is not for walking on...

That title is especially fun for my Oakcrest friends.

So, our lawn is growing! Don't worry about the bald patches or the weeds. We'll take care of that later. At least it's growing. I think we may even be ready to mow this weekend. Hooray!

This one is to illustrate that some things at our house are pretty. My flowers on the porch, for example.

This one is to illustrate how poor Kate has to play in the driveway because we can't use the lawn. She is not one bit bothered by it, though. Kate loves to play, especially in water!

Do I look fat in this?

Please don't mock my poor photo taking skills. I'm sure my camera has a timer, but I couldn't figure it out. So, in the mirror, which is not that easy.

Anyway, just wanted to make an official announcement that I am PREGNANT! I feel so huge already, please comment that I'm not. :) I'm due on Christmas, which is a blessing in many ways. We are really excited for this new little one to come to our family. Anna is really sweet, she loves to bring me blankets to make sure the baby is nice and cozy. (which is just what I need in this 90+ weather).

Boy oh boy, I've got joy

Has anyone out there heard of Joy School? I know that Travis did it as a kid, and since he's not only smarter than me, but more creative and a better problem solver, I figure that Joy School must be the secret. I really want to do it with my kids, and am currently recruiting some neighbors to join me.
The whole philosophy of Joy School is that young kids need to focus less on learning academics and more on learning about the joys of life (creativity, nature, etc.). This should appeal to all my homeschool friends out there. But the real joy of Joy School for me is that they give you all the lesson plans and things you'll need in order to run the program. This, I believe, will make it so that I can actually do it.
Some of you may remember my enthusiasm for preschool at home with Anna this year. We did a letter of the alphabet each week, at least that was the theory. Turned out that we got to about M and everything fell apart. I do enjoy teaching her though, and love to see her have fun doing fun projects. Earlier this week she asked if we could do school, so we made slime with glue and cornstarch. She and Kate both loved it.
Back to Joy School. I'm about to sign up for the program, but it says that if you know someone who is already a member, you get $5 off and they get some kind of perk too. So, if anyone out there is already a member of www.valuesparenting.com, please let me know and we'll help each other out.

The Latest News

My blogging efforts have been lacking lately. I think it's because I read some people's blogs and think, "Wow, nothing that cool is happening to me." Here is a little update of our recent adventures.

Anna-- she earned herself a big girl bike a few weeks ago and now wants to ride it all the time. She is actually pretty fast, such that when we go out on the river trail behind our house I have to hurry to keep up with her. Of course, that's me pushing Kate in a stroller and her riding the bike. She loves it.

She's also started with a daily chore. I'm working on some kind of chore chart/tracker, so I'd appreciate any ideas. I'm not necessarily into earning rewards for everyday chores because I want her to learn that everyone in the family just does chores to keep the family going. She's pretty good about it, especially since the rule is that she can't go outside until she's done her chore. Now I just need to come up with more kid friendly chores.

Kate-- growing so fast. She's into 2-3 word phrases these days, yesterday's was "Pappy ous" (Pappy's house). She also hates diapers and is always coming to me with nothing on her little bum and holding a pair of Anna's underwear. Is it gross that I let her wear her sister's underwear? Probably. I never had a sister, so I don't know how these things work.

Trav-- best husband ever. Much to my delight, he agreed to paint our front room for me last weekend. This is the third time we've painted in the 6 months we've lived here. It's green now nad once I get the stuff on the walls I'll post a picture. T has been into bike riding lately, and may start riding the bike to work..... hooray for saving gas money! He's also been called to be the Varsity advisor (14 yr. old boy scouts/YM). He really likes it, and I think I know why. They basically just eat food and play around all the time. Last night they were supposed to go boating, but the weather was bad so they ordered pizza and played horse.

Trav is worried about our lawn, and so am I. Anyone else done hydroseed? How long is it going to take? We have some good spots, and some barren spots. We wish we'd just done sod, even if it cost 3 times as much.

It's time to go to playgroup at the park with our ward, so this is it.

New Look

So, summer's here and life is hot. Kate freaks out if I ever put my hair in a pony tail, so I got it cut. This was my inspiration:

And this is the result:

Maybe there's a reason I'm not the one married to Tom Cruise.